Love Conquers all
by 0oFlourescenceo0
Summary: Oh no! Someone wants revenge on Inu Yasha and plants a tension bomb on Kagome! if Kagome gets tense even for a minute the bomb will slowly kill her! so she must stay calm, which won't be easy when she is abducted and could possibly be sacrificed! ch 6 up!
1. Good times, bad times

Love Conquers All

Disclaimer: I do not own inu yasha even though I wish with all my heart that I did!!!!

Author's note: just a warning that if you like kikyo do NOT read this story!!! Also if you do not like sappy romantic stories do NOT read this one!!! J just warning u ;)

Chapter one

Good Times, Bad Times

It had been just about the hottest day the gang had ever experienced. Everyone panted harder and harder with each passing moment. Suddenly as if in answer to their prayers, they came to a lake.

Kagome, who was the first to notice it, suddenly ran ahead, leaving her confused companions behind.

_Not again_ thought Inu Yasha to himself_ whenever she sees something she wants she always runs off! She is soooo annoying_. These thoughts ran through his head everyday, but deep in his heart he knew they weren't what he really thought of Kagome and never would be. In truth he admired her constant enthusiasm and knew that he couldn't possibly live without her. Maybe one day he would tell her how he felt...._pshh yeah right maybe in her dreams _he thought to himself.

By now everyone else had reached what had made Kagome so excited. In fact it had made them leap for joy as well. _Nothing ever seems to phase her does it?_ Thought Inu Yasha, who was still absorbed in his thoughts. He found himself beginning to stare at her and quickly looked away, his heart began to race and he could feel his face turning the color of his jacket. Trying to look as normal as possible he dipped his feet in the lake as did everyone else. _Damn Kagome_ he thought_ only she makes me do this. Only she makes my heart race and my face flush, not even Kikyo did that to me._ He paused for a minute, Kikyo, he had used to think he would never be able to forget about her, but now it seemed he could barely remember her at all. Ever since he had met Kagome, memories of Kikyo had begun to disappear one by one. Maybe one day the whole Kikyo ordeal would become a distant dream as though it had never been real.

"Inu Yasha?" said a voice that snapped Inu Yasha back to reality. He turned to look at the speaker and realized it was kagome. "Are you ok?" she asked, a genuine look of concern appeared on her face. She had obviously seen Inu Yasha's recognizable look of deep thought. He suddenly felt a light feeling of anger rise within him, he used to be so good at disguising his emotions but Kagome could always seem to tell what he was thinking.

"feh" He said to her, "of course I'm ok"

"oh," said Kagome, she paused for a moment, an unreadable look on her face, slowly, it turned into a slight smirk, "I was just wondering if you were hot?"

"huh?" said Inu Yasha, confused, why would she care about that.

"I was just wondering, because if you are, I could help you cool down," she said sincerely.

"how could you do that?" he asked her.

"by doing this" she replied shoving Inu Yasha backwards into the water.

He came up to the surface sputtering and coughing and he glared icily at the laughing miko in front of him, "what was that for?!?" he asked, half shouting.

"well, would you rather have me say sit?" she asked as the hanyou suddenly lurched underwater again. _Oops_ she thought to herself_ now I'm in trouble_. "sorry Inu Yasha I didn't mean it." She said as he surfaced again, coughing and sputtering more than before. She couldn't keep a straight face anymore, just watching him struggling soaked from head to toe made her want to laugh outload, and it didn't help that he had steam practically blowing out of is ears in annoyance. She bursted out laughing, practically falling to the gorund as Inu Yasha trudged out of the water.

Inu Yasha didn't know why he was able to keep himself from attacking her. But seeing Kagome smile could only make Inu Yasha want to smile. He knew she didn't mean any harm but he couldn't let it show, after all, he had worked too hard on disguising his emotions to throw it all away. "grrrrrrrr" he fumed, trying to sound convincingly angry, which only made Kagome laugh more. He couldn't take it anymore, he lunged toward her and scooped her up. With one jump, they sailed into the air, Kagome half giggling and half screaming. She clung to him until suddenly he let her drop and landed safely on the shore. Watching happily as she fell, hair blowing around her face and headed straight for the water, then giggling uncontrollably when she surfaced. It made him smile to see he had made her laugh. She slowly walked onto the shore, dripping from head to toe. She was about to speak when suddenly an unfamiliar voice cut her off.

"so....Inu Yasha, we meet once again...." The deep voice rang out as a dark figure loomed in the shadows.

Authors note: how did you like it so far this is my first story with chapters seeing as how I finally found out how to do it ; sweatdrops the next chapters will be longer don't worry.


	2. a mysterious rival

Author's note: I'm back!!!! Oh by the way, last chapter only Inu Yasha and Kagome are at the lake srry sweatdrops this is a mir/sang story too though but they get a chapter to themselves don't worry.

Chapter two: a mysterious rival

Kagome and Inu Yasha stared blankly at the shadowy figure in front of them. Inu Yasha searched his eyes, trying to look for some memory or reason as to why the figure had claimed to be meeting him again. Confused, Kagome took turns staring first at the figure, then Inu Yasha and back again. _We meet again?_ She thought to herself. She had thought Inu Yasha had told her everything about his past rivals, but she had never remembered this figure and, judging by the quizzical look in Inu Yasha's eyes, neither did he.

"who are you?" shouted Inu Yasha, "show yourself coward!"

As if in reply, the figure walked out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a young human man about their age, he had short jet black hair and was fairly handsome, considering the malicious look of anger that inhabited his face. "I'm surprised you don't remember me Inu Yasha" said the boy, "After all we used to be best friends."

_Best friends?_ Thought Kagome _but how, a best friend could never stare at their best friend with hateful eyes._ She turned to look at Inu Yasha, a spark of remembrance in his amber eyes.

"Kyoto..." he whispered, barely loud enough for Kagome to hear.

_Kyoto? _She wondered _so it's true, if Inu Yasha remembers him, they must have been friends, but what happened? Why do they look at each other with hateful stares? _

Inu Yasha snickered "so, you came to bear another false statement against me eh? What is it this time?"

"I make no false statements" said Kyoto, "You make false testimonies."

"you'll never believe me will you Kyoto," said Inu Yasha, a faint tone of pain in his voice.

"No" said Kyoto, "I will never again believe your lies!" he lunged toward Inu Yasha, a hidden sword in his hand.

"Still playing with toy swords?" said Inu Yasha as he dodged and instinctively went in front of Kagome to protect her.

"still loving and protecting humans?" said Kyoto as he again lunged for Inu Yasha, "just like your pitiful old man."

"don't bring my family into this Kyoto!" Inu Yasha yelled angrily as he picked up the confused and blushing Kagome and landed on a tree branch, "stay here Kagome, you'll be safer."

"Stop wasting your time with human girls you pathetic hanyou!" yelled Kyoto, "they will never love you in return!!!!"

Inu Yasha seemed stunned and hurt at first, as though he couldn't believe what Kyoto was saying, but the hurt quickly turned to rage as he pulled out his tetsusaiga and lunged for Kyoto. "you'll pay for that Kyoto!!!"

Instead of going on to fight Inu Yasha, Kyoto turned and ran shouting "no, Inu Yasha, _You _shall pay for what you did to my family!!" as he went further and further into the forest.

Inu Yasha stood there, anger in his eyes, he turned to Kagome who was still sitting there on the branch. He went to her picked her up and they went home together, neither speaking a word.

Once they had caught up with Miroku, Shippo and Sango at Kaede's hut they began to eat. It was strangely quiet and Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kaede exchanged curious stares as if asking each other if they knew what had happened.

Kagome turned to look at Inu Yasha, who was sitting in the corner, eating quietly, it made her want to cry to see him so sad and knew that his earlier conversation with Kyoto had gotten to him

_Stop wasting your time with human girls! _Kyoto had said _They will never love you in return _Inu yasha could not explain the pain he had felt when Kyoto had said that. He knew Kyoto knew that love and fear of rejection were his only weaknesses, but was it true? Even if Inu Yasha confessed his love for Kagome, would she love him in return? Inu Yasha growled to himself, how could he think such thoughts, Kagome would never not love someone, she was too kindhearted. He turned to look at her, only to find her looking at him as well. He knew that she must be wondering what was bothering him so much and didn't even want to pretend that she didn't know something was bothering him. He walked over to her and whispered in her ear "come with me" obediently she got up without question and the two of them ventured into the forest, leaving the confused Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kaede even more confused.

"what do you think they are talking about?" said Sango, who was always eager to know about her friends' lives.

"Probably something important" said Kaede.

"I wish there was a way we could listen to their conversation," said Shippo.

"there is, said Miroku slyly, "eavesdropping."

They all agreed and ran off after Inu Yasha and Kagome.

Inu Yasha and Kagome sat near the Goshinboku tree, "what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Inu Yasha" Kagome said.

"well I know you're wondering about me and Kyoto right?" he replied.

"yes, I am" said Kagome, sympathy in her chocolate brown eyes.

"well then I'll tell you..." said Inu Yasha

author's note: sorry about the rushed cliffhanger ending but this is thanksgiving and its dinner time, I'll try to update as soon as I can


	3. Two sides of the same story

Author's note: sorry about the short chapters but this is probably gonna end up being a long story so don't worry too much I want to apologize for the last chapter's ending it was total crap but I posted it on thanksgiving, which is today actually and I didn't think I would get any more time on the computer. Once again, sorry

Chapter 3:

two sides to the same story

Kagome looked at Inu Yasha, trying to search his expression to see if the story he was about to tell pained him in any way. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was make Inu Yasha remember painful memories, let alone tell them to her._poor Inu Yasha _thought Kagome, still trying to search his eyes _What Kyoto said earlier must have really upset him, otherwise he wouldn't have given in so easily. Still, I don't find any pain or suffering in his eyes, though it could just be one of his disguised emotions. I'll give him the choice, if he doesn't want to tell me he doesn't have to._

_What is she thinking about. _Thought Inu Yasha to himself _it's as though she is wondering whether or not she wants me to tell her, but why? does she think it will upset me? that's Kagome alright, never wanting anyone to go through pain _

"Inu Yasha?" Kagome finally spoke.

"Yes?" he replied.

"If telling me this story is too painful for you, you don't have to tell me," she said, "I don't want you to go through any pain or suffering because of me."

Inu Yasha smirked at his accuracy, "no" he said, "its not too painful" though inside he wasn't so sure, he had known Kagome for awhile now, and he had learned that he could trust her with anything. But what if this was too much? what if it was so painful he started to cry? What would Kagome think of him then? more importantly what would he think of himself? he had always been afraid to show his emotions, how would he handle the feeling of letting go of that fear? was he ready? maybe not, but that was no reason to keep the truth from Kagome, the one person who could make him feel things he never thought he could feel, and see things in new ways that he never thought were possible, the one who kept him going, kept him from insanity, and kept him in the warmth and out of the numbness of his past pain. No, it wasn't too painful, not for her.

"Are you ready Kagome?" he told her, looking seriously in her chocolate eyes, "I'm warning you now this story does not have a happy ending"

"yes" said Kagome, looking into his amber eyes with as much seriousness as his.

"Well a long time ago, when I was still a kid and my parents were both alive, we always had to hide our demonic side, my father would always take a human form and my brother as well. But as for me, there was nothing I could do to hide my ears and claws, so I had to always stay hidden and could never interact with anyone. When someone did find me we had to run away from that village. It was my fault that we never had a solid home." he looked down at the ground as if the very subject was starting to take its toll on him.

"Inu Yasha, if you can't go on..." Kagome began.

"No don't speak" said Inu Yasha, "if I don't tell you it will be even more painful"

Kagome understood and didn't say anything more, "so one day," Inu Yasha continued, "we came to this new village. As usual I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone. I was so bored I couldn't stand it anymore so I went out in my backyard to do something when I met him! I froze, after all no one was supposed to know I existed. But he didn't seem scared of me at all, in fact, he came up to me and touched my ears! Just like you did when you first met me"

Kagome blushed slightly "I couldn't help it your ears were so cute!"

Inu Yasha smiled as he continued, "he told me his name was Kyoto and I told him my name as well. He told me he wasn't afraid of hanyous so I shouldn't be afraid of him. He promised not to tell anyone about me and he kept it too, it was the first real promise anyone had ever kept for me. We quickly became best friends. I was so happy! For the first time in my life I had a real friend, one that cared about me. We were inseparable for a time, playing with his home made toy swords and doing things regular little kids would do, and thats when it happened!"

"When what happened?" asked the others who were watching from afar. Each one more curious than the other. But they all knew better than to ask aloud.

"When what happened, Inu Yasha" said Kagome.

"A few strange deaths started to occur, and every time someone died, a claw mark was found on their neck. Kyoto knew that the only one who had claws was me, so every time someone died he would interrogate me. For the first time he questioned my faithfulness, testing to see if I was a danger to the village. I told him over and over again that it wasn't true, and it wasn't. But each time a new villager died, his trust in me was weakened more and more until one day it broke like a thread burned by fire. His family was slain by the same clawed creature. He was the only one left in his entire family line. He was convinced I had been the one to kill his family and had spared him because he was my friend. I tried to explain that I would never kill his family on purpose but he wouldn't believe me and was convinced that I had strung him along the whole time with the friendship thing. After that he told everyone about me and spent the rest of our days together tormenting me with the other boys of the village. They beat me until I was numb and drowning in my own blood everyday. Finally we couldn't take it anymore and fled the village. I remember that just as we were leaving, he shouted out to me that he wouldn't rest until I was destroyed and that one way or another he would find me."

He looked up at Kagome and saw her tear filled eyes. She started crying so much it was as if she were the one being hunted by Kyoto. "Kagome? What's wrong?" he asked her, he hadn't meant to make her cry.

'Oh Inu Yasha" Kagome said, sobbing still "the thought of your first real friend betraying you is so sad I can't bear it! It makes me feel like _I'm _the one being hunted by Kyoto" she began to cry harder.

Inu Yasha stretched out his arms toward her as the eavesdroppers stiffened, waiting to see what he would do. Would he embrace her? Maybe. Would he kiss her? they hoped so! They watched attentively as Inu Yasha wrapped his arms around Kagome and held her close, "he wasn't my first true friend Kagome" he said comfortingly, "you were" he felt Kagome stiffen, he could feel her heartbeat against him pounding faster and faster and simultaneously, his heart began to beat faster. Their hearts were in perfect sync as they embraced and both didn't want to let go of the other. The party of eavesdroppers sighed happily at the scene displayed before them. It was so cute when Inu Yasha and Kagome had nice moments like this. Little did they know that they weren't the only eavesdroppers, not by a longshot.

Somewhere deep in the forest stood a single lonely cave, it was a fog gray and had no signs of life inside whatsoever. In fact passers by would think nothing more of it than an old abandoned cave. But in truth something did inhabit that cave, something sinister, something evil. Something that could watch anything it wanted, and it was. It was watching Inu Yasha and Kagome at this very moment from the safety of his cave. (You know who it is right? if not its Kyoto! For the love of inu yasha i hope you knew that) _That's it Inu Yasha _he thought to himself _butter her up, pretend to be her friend and betray her, just like you did to me. There has to be some way to destroy him for what he did to me! There has to be some way to avenge the truth! Inu Yasha pretended to be my best friend, he was quite sincere to boot, then he started killing villagers, stringing me along and telling me he had nothing to do with it when each time a new dead body was discovered his claw mark was found on each of their necks!! I trusted him too, until he slaughtered my family! That was the last straw! I swear to you Inu Yasha, I will hunt you down and destroy you!!!! But how! How can I destroy you, you pathetic hanyou!?!? Bah, the more I try to think of how, the more I get stumped. _He stood up and walked over to a cabinet of shelves (I know I know, a cabinet in a cave? Hey you try thinking of some where better!) he began pulling things out randomly and pondering whether or not it would help him in any way. _No, no, NO! _he mentally yelled at himself as he continuously pulled out things like spell books and potion recipes from the cabinet. He kept pulling until he came to an old dust covered book at the back of the cabinet. He took it out and blew the dust off of it. He remembered when his old man had given the book as a child. He had said that the old sorcerer Deikai had given it to him. Gingerly he opened the book, turning each page more excitedly than the last. He remembered when his father had explained the importance of the book to him. _Don't ever use unless you have to _his father had said _the consequences will be great if you blindly use its power. _He remembered it as though it were yesterday. Details of the conversation were so vivid in his mind mainly because they were the last words ever spoken to him before his father was slain. _Before that pathetic hanyou slaughtered him!_ He thought bitterly, rage growing stronger and stronger inside him. _I think father would approve of this use of the book's power _he thought to himself and began flipping through more of the books fragile pages until he came to the last page. His eyes lit with evil as he skimmed the page. "That's it!!!!" he said aloud joyfully.


	4. Inu Yasha's Weakness

Author's note: warning you now, this chappie won't be my longest one but I'll try ï

Chapter 4:

Inu Yasha's Weakness

_If I am to destroy Inu Yasha, I must find his weakness and use it against him, but how am I to do that? Sure I could spy on him with my magic but it could take a long time to put two and two together with such a vast variety of choices. _Kyoto pondered to himself about it for a moment and suddenly came up with an idea, a brilliant idea! But it would take much mystical strength and power to perform. _The one way to find someone's deepest and most frequent thoughts, is to get inside their head. And how do you get inside their head? With the Dream of Longing spell! It can show fear, love, anger, and weakness to anyone who wishes to see! It's perfect! I must find the spell_. He searched and searched through every book he owned to find the Dream of Longing Spell. Finally, after much searching and aggravation, the spell was found. He read the spell carefully

_**THE DREAM OF LONGING SPELL**_

_**Step one: find the person you want to perform the spell upon**_

**_Step two: gather 3 items from the person 1) a lock of their hair 2)a piece of their clothing 3) a drop of their blood. _**

_**Step three: on the night of a new moon, go to a dark enclosed space and place a cauldron there**_

_**Step four: mix water from the bluest lagoon and rosemary from the kindest miko together with the 3 items. **_

_**AFTER-EFFECTS**_

_**The image will appear as a mirror like reflection of the dream that the person is experiencing and it will automatically change into a blank space, open for dream alteration. This is when you drop in a final ingredient depending on what longing you wish to see. **_

_**For love: a cherry blossom**_

_**For anger: a red lantern plant**_

_**For fear: a yellow daisy**_

**_And for weakness: a single rose petal_**

Kyoto read it again for a final time, not wanting to make any mistakes due to lack of correct reading. He smiled deviously and thought over the task in his mind. He knew that attaining the 3 items and the rose petal would be no problem, but a new moon only happened once in a month, would one be coming soon? If so how could he find out? He read the bottom of the page again to see if the book had any helpful suggestions.

**_For any questions or comments, please contact Deikai the sorcerer and be sure to buy volume 2 of Spells and Magic._**

That was the answer, Kyoto knew that he must find Deikai and ask him about the new moon. But how could he find him? He skimmed the page again for any information on Deikai's whereabouts. _Nothing! _He thought to himself. _ How can I find Deikai and get the information on the new moon if I can't even find out his whereabouts! _Growing more and more frustrated with every word he was thinking, he skimmed the page for a last time. That's when he saw it, the little turn page icon at the bottom of the page. Slowly and carefully he turned the page. Suddenly, a bright light shone in his face blinding him. When the light died down, Kyoto could see and impression cut deeply in the book's cover, and in the impression lay a powder blue pendant with a gold frame all around it. Kyoto picked up the pendant and analyzed it, checking carefully for any clues to its purpose. He turned it slowly in his hand until he came to a tiny engraving within the gold frame. The engraving read that to contact Deikai, he must use the pendant. Excited, he joyfully put on the pendant. The blinding light returned once more as he was connected to the sorcerer's thoughts. _That Deikai is a genius _Kyoto thought _inventing a channeling pendant, at this rate I'll find the next new moon and gather the items and have Inu Yasha's weakness in no time! _

Kyoto was connected at last. At first, all he could see was the blinding light. Then, little by little, a scene was displayed before him, set in a small but cozy room. In the corner, was a fireplace, burning brightly with the red hues of the flames which danced across the room at a rapid pace. Furniture strewn in tidy places that seemed to welcome any new stranger _it sickens me that a sorcerer capable of so many evil things would live in such a welcoming and cheerful place. _He thought to himself. His mind has long since been twisted with evil, it seemed to all that knew him that happy thoughts could no longer inhabit even a portion of his mind. They knew for sure that the once gentle and happy child had turned into a twisted and evil young man, tainted with malice and the constant need for revenge. Then, in the corner, Kyoto saw an elderly man. He looked as though he had been deprived of all his happiness as well and every movement he made was slow and looked as though it took much effort to even move the slightest inch. He was completely bald except for pieces of hair on top of his ears that were just long enough to tie into a ponytail at the back of his head. (like Kagome's grandfather's hair).

"are you the one they call Deikai?" Kyoto asked aloud, surprised that he was capable of talking to someone without being right beside them.

"yes" said Deikai calmly, as though this method of conversation was something he used daily.

"good, I am in need of some of your magical know-how" Kyoto said to the man.

"what is it you want?" said Deikai with a slight tone of suspiciousness in his voice.

"I simply ask to know the date of the next new moon" said Kyoto simply.

The man slowly got up and dragged himself over to what looked like a fountain. Even more slowly, he dropped an herb into the fountain, then another, and another, and another. Then, still moving slowly, he grabbed a long slender stick and put it into the potion. Stirring with the long stick, the man stared into the fountain, slowly swaying as he moved the stick around in circles. Suddenly, more bright light shone in Kyoto's face and he saw that Deikai had stopped stirring and staring and had gone back to sitting on the floor. "you came at a close time lad." He said, curving his lips slowly into a smirk, "the next new moon is tomorrow night"

...............................................................................................

Meanwhile Sango and Miroku left the party of eavesdroppers, knowing what would happen next, Inu Yasha would get embarrassed about embracing Kagome and say something stupid and mean and send Kagome running home. Though they both sincerely hoped that this time would be different, they knew deep down in their hearts that it would be the same.

"Inu Yasha is something else eh Miroku?" said Sango to the monk beside her, watching Miroku's hands carefully _if he thinks he's gonna get away with giving my rear a rub just because Kagome and Inu Yasha had a nice moment together he's got another thing coming _Sango thought, clenching her hand into a fist angrily, ready to strike Miroku even though he hadn't yet said a word.

"What do you mean Sango" asked the monk, slightly confused at her sudden insult.

"He tries to hide his feelings for Kagome from everyone when they're so damn obvious and whenever they have nice moments Inu Yasha always screws it up by saying something mean!" the demon slayer shouted.

"now wait Sango, Inu Yasha hasn't done anything to send Kagome running home yet," said Miroku, trying to sound more convinced then he felt.

Sango shot him a look as if to say _Your kidding right?_ She was about to speak when she was cut off by Inu Yasha _and _Kagome's entrance. "so just what is it you guys have been saying about us this time" said Inu Yasha, who was always aware of when his friends were talking about him and Kagome, which was always!

Miroku shot him a pathetic fake hurt look "what makes you think we've been talking about you?"

"because we found this eavesdropper at the scene of the crime" said Inu Yasha with a look on his face that said _don't try those tricks on me_ as he pulled a guilty looking Shippo out from behind him.

"Shippo, you were eavesdropping?" said Sango as innocently as she could.

Unfortunately, she failed because Kagome said, "he told us the whole story."

Sango and Miroku shot angry glances at Shippo who suddenly got very frightened and dove behind Kagome who picked him up and held him in her arms. She too glared angrily, but at Sango and Miroku. "Kagome-chan, we're sorry" said Sango sincerely, "we only wanted to know what had happened to you and Inu Yasha today."

"yes, we were just curious." said Miroku, coming to Sango's aid much to her surprise. She blushed slightly, Miroku usually didn't defend her this way, usually it was one quick rub of the rear and a slap.

"we know," said Kagome forgivingly, "you always eavesdrop on us" giggling, she walked over to Sango and sat down with her and began to talk while Miroku and Inu Yasha sat and talked on the opposite side of the room.

"so what happened today Kagome?" Sango asked her friend.

Kagome gave her a confused stare "what do you mean?" she asked in reply.

"don't play games with me Kag-chan" said Sango giggling "Spill it, who is this Kyoto guy and how did you meet him"

Kagome paused, unsure of what to say. On the one hand, if she told Sango she would have a giant weight lifted off her shoulders, but would Inu Yasha be happy about that? Sure they knew the story of Kyoto already, but would Inu Yasha approve of her letting Sango know just what had been said earlier that day?

"well....?"said Sango, urging Kagome to tell her.

"it's a secret" Kagome replied at last, deciding that she would wait until she got approval from Inu Yasha "sorry Sango-chan but I just can't tell you"

Sango looked frustrated, she hated it when secrets were kept from her. After all, she was the one who was supposed to be in on all the secrets and keep them. Kagome sensed that Sango wasn't happy with her answer "don't worry, I just need approval from Inu Yasha first" she said as she saw Sango's eyes light up with joy.

"ask him now!" she pleaded, "pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase?"

"ok, ok" Kagome said, getting up and beginning to walk over to Inu Yasha. She was about to ask his approval when suddenly Kaede came in with many bowls of ramen she had obviously taken from Kagome's bag. _Uh oh _thought Kagome _I'll never get a word in edgewise now that there's food in the room. _And she was right! Inu Yasha instantly got up and ran over to the ramen knocking over Kagome who was in his path. "OW!" she yelled as she fell to the floor "INU YASHA!!!" Inu Yasha paused and turned to look at the fuming Kagome. She took one look at Inu Yasha, ramen stuffed into his mouth _he'll pay for that bottomless pit of a stomach! _She thought angrily "SIT BOY!" she yelled, smiling as Inu Yasha plummeted head first into the ground. But she wasn't finished with him yet, "SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SI...mmph!" Kagome began but was stopped by Inu Yasha running toward her to clamp a hand over her mouth.

"I don't know what your so mad about but will you PLEASE stop with the sitting already!" he yelled.

"how about the fact that you knocked me down when I was about to ask you something important just to fill that stupid stomach of yours!" Kagome yelled back.

"how was I supposed to know it was important you never actually got around to asking me!" Inu Yasha shot back.

"that's because you knocked me over!" Kagome shouted, growing angrier and angrier "you know what Inu Yasha? Forget it! I don't care anymore! Besides I already said SIT a million...oops" she said as Inu Yasha once again fell to the floor.

"THAT'S IT KAGOME!!!!" Inu Yasha fumed, chasing her.

She screamed, almost laughing as she ran out of Kaede's hut and into the forest with Inu Yasha at her heels. The others quickly ran after them, leaving the hut unguarded. Inu Yasha and Kagome ran to the middle of the forest where they came to a large hill. Suddenly, Inu Yasha came up from behind and tackled Kagome! They rolled down the hill together laughing and clinging to each other. Finally they stopped, Inu Yasha on top of Kagome! They paused, staring into each other's eyes, connecting as they never had before. Gradually getting swept away in the moment, their lips began to draw closer and closer and closer until---

"Kagome, Inu Yasha!" Kaede yelled to them.

_Damn! _Thought Inu Yasha _stupid old hag! Why the hell did she have to come now! _

"what are you doing?!" yelled Shippo, seeing Inu Yasha on top of Kagome.

"uh...n-nothing Shippo" Kagome stammered, blushing as Inu Yasha got off of her.

"uh...c-come on everyone lets go....finish dinner" said Inu Yasha as everyone shot sarcastic stares at the blushing couple.

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But someone was already at Kaede's hut, someone who had been watching from his abandoned cave. ( please say you know its Kyoto! Come on who else would it be the ice cream man?) He had snuck into the hut unnoticed searching for any of the four items for his spell. Searching the spot where Inu Yasha had been sat carefully, he found a tiny strand of silver hair. _Perfect!_ He thought to himself _one down, two more to go _the other two items were a piece of Inu Yasha's clothing and a drop of Inu Yasha's blood. He knew the clothing part would not be hard, but the drop of his blood would take a cut that he could witness and be able to take a sample from undetected. This meant that the battle would have to be one of his own! He thought about the battle, how would he lure Inu Yasha to the site? And how could he cut him? Inu Yasha had changed much since they were kids, he was much stronger and one of Kyoto's small swords would never be enough to cut through his think hanyou skin! He smiled evilly, he knew just how to do it! But it was evil, oh so evil! _Its perfect!_. Then he remembered his father, he grew more and more vengeful and evil since his family's unfair death. _And it's Inu Yasha's fault!_He wanted to destroy everything he could find in this hut that Inu Yasha had stepped foot in! He was just about to when he heard people coming! Escaping through the back door, he ran from the hut as fast as he could, trying not to be discovered.

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The next day, Kyoto frantically tried to lure Inu Yasha to a fight scene, knowing that he was pressed for time. _Stupid hanyou_ he thought _he used to never be able to resist the chance to fight! _He would try one last time! Using a quick shape shifter spell he had learned the night before, he changed himself into Kagome, knowing that Inu Yasha would probably listen to him if he thought he was his friend. But he also knew that if he didn't get Kagome out of the way for a minute his fake disguise would be discovered in an instant.

Then he saw them, Inu Yasha, the girl (kagome) and their 3 other friends. He blushed slightly, eyeing the other girl companion. He had never seen her before and thought she looked quite beautiful with her long straight hair and large boomerang. But he knew that pitiful human emotions like love couldn't get in the way and quickly dismissed all thought of the lovely demon slayer. Luckily the girl he was looking for happened to be walking behind the rest of the group _I love it when a plan works out _he chuckled to himself, happy with his good luck. He dove behind a bush as the group walked past him. Kagome began to walk past the bush when suddenly she felt something tug at her arm hard. Before she could scream, she was pulled into the bushes and tied and gagged. "MMMMPH!" she yelled, trying to scream through the gag. But she stopped as she realized who had caught her, Kyoto disguised as her. Her eyes opened wide in confusion as Kyoto reverted back to his form for a moment as if to show her that it was he who had tied her. He noticed that she had shards in the pocket of her skirt. Grinning evilly, he took the form of Kagome once again. He paused for a moment, thinking, then he laid his hands on Kagome, who screamed in protest, he said some words to himself and suddenly changed her until she took on his form! Jumping out of the bush he followed the rest of the gang until they were a far enough distance from the girl enabling her to see them but they could not see her.

"Inu Yasha" Kyoto screamed suddenly, taking on the voice of Kagome and running up to him.

"what?" said Inu Yasha confused.

"my jewel shards!" Ky/kag (my nickname for disguised Kyoto) "they've been stolen." He/she opened the pocket of his/her skirt to show him. "I think I saw who took them! It was that evil man Kyoto! Follow me I'll lead you to him!" he/she ran ahead, mumbling a transportation spell so that the Kagome who had now taken his form would be at the scene of the fight and would have the jewel shards. Chuckling to himself/herself, he/she looked behind him/her. Sure enough the group followed.

Meanwhile, Kagome who had now taken the form of Kyoto was struggling to be free of the ropes and gag that binded her/him. She/he squirmed and wriggled, trying continuously to break free. Suddenly, a bright light shone in a circle around her/him. It grew brighter and brighter until it became blinding and she/he had to close her eyes. When she/he opened them again, she/he was in a new place. It was a clearing in a forest, dark and eerie. She/he looked around her/him and saw that there was a dark and murky lake, midnight blue with evil. Looking at her/his reflection she/he saw that she had taken the form of Kyoto! _Oh no! _she/he thought _I've got to break free of these damn ropes! _As if in reply, the chords that had once binded her/him broke like small weak twigs and the gag that had kept her/him silent disappeared as though it had never been there! Looking at her/his reflection one last time she/he saw that she/he was still in Kyoto's form! Feeling tenser and tenser, she/he pondered what she/he should do. Suddenly, she/he heard someone coming.

"who's there!" she/he yelled out, surprised that she/he had taken on the voice of Kyoto as well. She/he panicked as she/he saw Inu Yasha and her/his friends emerge from the bushes! Inu Yasha would never believe her/him even if she/he tried to warn him about the fake Kagome!

"Kyoto!" shouted Inu Yasha, "Give Kagome back her jewel shards!"

Kag/Ky was almost hurt! She/he couldn't believe that Inu Yasha would truly believe that that imposter was her/him! Maybe he wouldn't believe her/him about the fake Kagome but she/he would try and warn him anyways "Inu Yasha it's me! Kagome! that Kagome beside you is nothing but Kyoto in my form!"

"after all this!" Inu Yasha began "you really think I'm going to believe you?!"

He lunged at her/him, claws outstretched, anger in his heart, and vengeance in his eyes! Kag/Ky dodged "Inu Yasha you have to believe me!" she shouted, trying to get through to him.

"I won't!" Inu Yasha shouted, going in for another attack "now give us back our jewel shards!"

"I don't have them!" Kag/Ky shouted back, searching her/his pockets to prove to him that she/he was telling the truth. Searching her/his last pocket, she/he pulled out a glass vile containing the jewel shards! _Oh no! _she/he thought _now he'll never believe me!_

"oh you don't eh?" Inu Yasha yelled angrily, "you dirty little liar!" he turned to look at Ky/Kag "Kagome! fire an arrow at him!"

"huh?" said Ky/Kag confused, he/she didn't know that that stupid girl Kagome even knew how to perform archery! Sango handed him/her the bow and arrows. "b-but I c-can't" he/she stuttering, taking the bow and arrows with shaking hands.

"fire it now Kagome!" Inu Yasha yelled to Ky/Kag.

Slowly and unsure of himself/herself, he/she raised the bow and arrow and took aim. Then he/she fired! The arrow sailed closely by Inu Yasha's arm, skinning slightly and causing him to bleed a little and sailed toward Kag/Ky who dodged the pathetic arrow quite easily. Inu Yasha sailed to the ground and landed softly beside the fake Kagome. "what was that Kagome?" said Inu Yasha confused, "you never fire like that! You hit me instead of him!"

"I did!" said Ky/Kag almost too happily, "uh...I mean...I did?" Pulling out a tiny vile he/she caught a bit of Inu Yasha's blood _another item down now for the hoari!_ He/she thought, eyeing Inu Yasha's red hoari in the corner. Slowly and quietly, he/she went over and picked it up, tearing a bit of the material from it, he/she handed the rest of it to Inu Yasha "go after her...I mean him!" he/she said catching her mistake quickly "you can do it!"

Inu Yasha smiled at him/her and stood up, preparing to attack Kag/Ky for the final time! He leaped into the air and caught her/him off guard. Claws outstretched once again, he dug them into her/him "Inu Yasha NOOOOOOO!!!!" Kag/Ky yelled at him before she/he fell to the ground! A blue light began to glow around her/him and Ky/Kag. It died down fairly quickly and revealed the real Kagome and Kyoto.

Inu Yasha gasped, looking at the real Kagome before him, the one he had attacked! He turned quickly to see Kyoto standing where who he thought had been Kagome was standing only moments ago. "you imposter!" he yelled "that explains that lousy arrow fire!" Enraged, Inu Yasha went to attack Kyoto.

"wait Inu Yasha!" shouted Kyoto, "before you kill me, shouldn't you ensure that her life isn't endangered?" he smirked, pointing at the unconscious Kagome.

Inu Yasha looked at her as well. He gave in, going to pick her up and take her to Kaede. He knew that if he didn't, she would not be alive much longer, no mortal could survive a clawing attack from him without immediate help. "you win for now Kyoto!" Inu Yasha yelled, sailing through the air with the unconscious Kagome on his back and the others at his heels.

_Your right Inu Yasha _Kyoto thought to himself _and I am about to win this battle for good _he eyed the young demon slayer _and much more!_

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_how dare he! _Thought Inu Yasha _how dare he make me believe Kagome is my enemy and attack her! I'll kill him for this! I swear to you Kagome!_

"can you save her?" asked a concerned Sango who brought Inu Yasha back to reality.

"aye," said Kaede, "luckily ye did not claw her too hard" Kaede got up to her herb storage container and took out a red lantern plant. She pressed it into the mouths of the wounds on Kagome's body and soon they healed. Kagome woke up and slowly sat up to see the concerned faces of her companions. Looking at each one apologetically, she turned to face Inu Yasha, an angry glare crept up her face.

"how could you Inu Yasha!" she yelled, "how did you not know that fake Kagome wasn't me!" she began to cry "I thought you knew me a little better by now!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

If Kagome had gone into his chest, pulled out his heart and shattered it into a million pieces, it would not have hurt half as much. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to make Kagome cry because of him. Kagome got up and ran. She ran and ran and ran as far away as she could get. Far away from the pain, far away from her broken heart, and far away from Inu Yasha.

"Kagome Wait!" Inu Yasha called after her. But Kagome paid no intention to his call and kept running, running from it all. She ran until she felt as heavy as a sandbag. With the last vestiges of her strength, she continued running as best as she could. Suddenly, her foot got snagged on a twig and she fell. Her head hit the grass but she did not rise. Instead she sobbed, sobbed silently in the grass, confused and angry. On the one hand she understood why Inu Yasha had not believed her. After all, Kyoto was a master at making fake promises and lying so why should he? But couldn't Inu Yasha tell Kyoto from her? Even in her form, Inu Yasha still could have recognized Kyoto strange smell and when he performed that lousy shot with the bow and arrow, couldn't he have realized it then? And what about the lack of purifying miko aura that always surrounded Kagome as others would say. Sobbing harder, she rolled onto her back to stare at the sky. But instead of the sky, she saw the goshinboku tree (tree of ages). This was the place where she had first met Inu Yasha. She stared up at it, tears falling slowly down her face, staining her cheeks and making them sticky. She slowly rose, walking over to the tree. She stared at the tree for a moment, then embraced its trunk tightly. _Oh Inu Yasha _she thought, remembering the hanyou who had only the other night poured out a painful story about his childhood, which was rarer then him ignoring food. She realized she had been too hard on him, he was only confused about everything, not knowing what to believe anymore. But she couldn't go back now, she turned again to see the well that led to her home. Wiping the last bit of tears from her face, she jumped, leaving the past, entering the future, and remembering the hanyou who had stolen her heart.

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Inu Yasha ran, sniffing the air over and over again, trying to catch the scent of Kagome who had left only minutes ago. Catching the scent he ran, he ran until he came to the Goshinboku tree himself. Staring at it, he remembered when he first met Kagome. he had thought at first, that she was Kikyo. INu Yasha smiled at the thought, she was nothing like Kikyo, so spunky and full of life and never expecting more than anyone could do. Unlike Kikyo, Kagome had never asked Inu Yasha to become a human, she had never asked him to do anything he didn't want to do and never expected him to do everything for her as Kikyo had. He sniffed once again, catching Kagome's sweet scent all over the trunk of the tree. He sniffed again, more deeply this time, as if he was trying to get more and more of Kagome's scent in his mind. He turned, following the scent he couldn't resist. He eyed the well and figured that Kagome must have gone back to the present. He walked over to the well and jumped in himself, deciding that somehow, he would make up with her.

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Kagome had arrived at home only minutes ago. She entered her house on the Higurashi shrine and was immediately greeted by the smiling faces of her family. "Kagome! welcome home!" said her mother cheerfully as her brother hugged her and her grandfather handed her her dinner. She sat down, trying to look as though nothing had happened in the feudal era, but she knew that her tear-stained cheeks and red bloodshot eyes gave her away.

After dinner, Kagome went to her room to think. Should she go back and make up with Inu Yasha? Or should she wait for him to come to her. Looking around her room, she spotted her calendar. Looking closely at it, she saw one of those holidays in small print was under today's date. She got up to see what holiday it was _that's weird_ she thought _I never knew there was a holiday today _looking more closely at it she saw that the holiday was entitled "the new lunar month" _lunar month? _She thought _where have I heard that before? _She thought harder, trying to remember _wait a minute! The lunar month? The new moon! The night Inu Yasha turns human! I've got to go back and stay with him I won't let him die because I wasn't there with him!_

Kagome ran down the stair and got her shoes on "where are you going?" asked her mother, who was in the kitchen.

"back to the feudal era!" Kagome said, opening the door.

"already? You just got here!" her mother said.

"I know but I forgot about something important I'll be back soon!" said Kagome as she ran out the door. Running towards the well, she bumped into someone.

"Kagome?" said a familiar voice.

"Inu Yasha?" Kagome said looking up to see the dog eared hanyou standing above her.

"what are you doing?" he asked her.

"I was just about to go back to the feudal era to see you!" she explained, "the new moon is tonight and I was worried about you"

Inu Yasha seemed surprised at first, then he smiled slowly with affection and care, a look Kagome had never known could inhabit his face. "stay with me tonight" Kagome told him, "I don't want you to get hurt" Inu Yasha looked skeptical at the suggestion "its just for one night, please?" she pleaded, looking into his eyes with a glimmer of worry.

He melted, caving in he said, "I guess" and was given a tight hug from her in return.

"come with me" Kagome smiled, stepping back from the hug and tugging on his arm. Then she stopped, saying "wait here and don't go anywhere." She ran into the house and came back with one of sota's blue baseball caps. Putting it on his head, she tugged tightly over his ears. "if we're going out in public I can't be seen with a dog-eared boy" she winked and giggled as she grabbed his sleeve and began pulling him with her once again. Then she noticed something about his hoari, there was a little rip in the fabric of his sleeve _must be from his battle with...me_ she thought, looking down as she continued pulling him with her.

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Meanwhile, Kyoto was busily preparing for the new moon that night in his own way. Gathering all the items required for the spell he readied his cauldron, pouring the water from the bluest lagoon and the herbs from the kindest priestess, he set them down on a shelf to dry. _Soon, Inu Yasha _he thought, stirring the concoction together _soon I will have your weakness! _

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Inu Yasha and Kagome had arrived at a small park. It was almost dark so all the little kids had gone. Sitting on a swing, Kagome began to pump herself, going higher and higher and Inu Yasha gazed in amazement. "how do you do that?" he asked her.

Kagome was confused, no one she knew had ever asked her how to use a swing before. She guessed that there were no swings in the feudal era. "it's easy" she said as she jumped off in mid-swing. She pulled Inu Yasha over to the other one and made him sit on it. It looked a little odd seeing him sit without his legs crossed. She went behind him and gave him a push.

"what are you doing?" asked Inu Yasha almost falling off the swing.

"grab on to the chains I'll push you, don't worry I won't let you fall" Kagome told him reassuringly, pushing him again. He did as she told him and let her push him. Once she had gotten him fairly high she stopped pushing "now do like I do," she said, climbing onto the other swing and pumping her self. Inu Yasha watched her and mimicked her as best he could. Before he knew it, he was pumping himself higher and higher too.

After swinging, Kagome showed him the ropes. Grabbing on to one, she jumped off the platform and flew to the other side. When she got back, she handed one to Inu Yasha "now you try" she said. He took the rope and she grabbed the other one "on the count of three we'll both take off and whoever gets to the other side first wins" she said as he nodded, smiling competitively. "ready?" she said, "one....two....THREE!" they both jumped taking off. Suddenly, in mid fly, Inu Yasha reached out and grabbed Kagome's rope to try and slow her down, causing their ropes to twist together and bring them closer to each other. Blushing, they looked up into each other's eyes.

A few minutes later, the couple started walking together on one of the many scenic pathways of the park. They stared at the sunset as it turned into the new moon. Kagome saw as Inu Yasha pulsated with the arrival of the new moon. His hair turned from silver to black and his ears slowly disappeared as did his fangs and claws. When the transformation was over, Kagome saw him as a human. "I'm sorry," said Inu Yasha a few minutes after the silence "I should've known that it was Kyoto disguised as you."

Kagome smiled apologetically, "no you shouldn't" she said looking into his now brown eyes, "I understand why you wouldn't believe me and I was wrong to get angry."

Suddenly, Inu Yasha reached out and grabbed Kagome, pulling her into a hug "yes I should!" he yelled, "what if Kyoto pulls another trick like that! How will I know its you? I may kill you next time!" Kagome pulled away from the hug.

"I know what you mean" she said "I've been wondering the same thing and I think I know what to do." She began singing a song "_feel this fire deep inside, burning where you can't hide, just look at the starry sky, and see the light, when the darkness comes too strong don't forget your not alone, look at the stars and sing this song, I'll find you before long" _she stopped, looking at Inu Yasha "if you ever can't find me, just listen for that song and you'll know it's me'

Inu Yasha pulled her into another hug. Kagome hugged back, happy that Inu Yasha was holding her in his arms. They looked at each other, their lips drawing closer once again, now with no one to interrupt. Their lips were about to make impact when—

"Kagome?" said a voice.

"Hojo?" Kagome said, spinning around and pushing Inu Yasha behind a tree.

"who's that with you" Hojo asked her.

"uh....w-what do you mean? Th-there's no one with me" Kagome stuttered "Inu Yasha" she whispered to the fallen Inu Yasha.

"what!" he whispered back.

"hide" she said.

"why?" he questioned, "I want to meet this guy that seems to like you so much"

"hide now!" Kagome whispered.

"who are you talking to?" said Hojo who had come up to her, "you don't have schizophrenia do you? You're grandfather said the doctors weren't sure."

_Thanks a lot grandpa _Kagome thought pushing Hojo away from Inu Yasha. Eyeing the place where Inu yasha was hiding, Kagome could see one of Sota and his friends' hiding places. One quick sit and he'd be hidden. Pushing Hojo over to a bench she eyed the spot once more. Inu Yasha was coming ou of hiding! "uh...here Hojo" she said to him, "why don't you SIT down and we can talk. She smiled with satisfaction as she heard the ruffle of leaves where Inu Yasha had fallen to the ground.

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Later, Kagome pointed to a pull out couch "well this is where your sleeping tonight" she pulled out the bed in the couch and put out some pillows, "see you in the morning" she said, walking to her room.

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Kyoto was finally ready, he stirred the mixture slowly, dropping in the four items. First, the lock of hair, then the piece of clothing and finally the drop of blood. Almost instantly, the image of Inu Yasha's dream appeared. Turning blank, he added the rose petal. Suddenly, a heart appeared in the water. _A heart? _Thought Kyoto _that means love, but who is it that he loves. _The dream changed to show Kagome! _that girl! _Thought Kyoto _no wonder he was so bent on protecting her!_ He smiled, he knew what to do! He had been saving this idea for an especially evil situation _I think this situation can count _he laughed, harder and harder, louder and louder with more evil in every tone. It grew so hard and so loud and so evil that everyone all over could hear it.

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Author's note: I really gotta stop doing these rushed endings. Sorry everyone for taking so long but I really wanted this to be a good chapter. Thanx to xXxChocaholicxXx and Jamie for their reviews and plz ppl if you've got sumfin to say about this chapter, review it! Oh and I need your opinion on whether or not I should bring Koga into this story. Thanx a bunch!


	5. The First Kidnapping and The Tension Sea...

Author's note: to Jamie, thanx for your opinion, I gonna definitely try to fit Koga in (somehow) and I knew there was sumfin weird with the spelling of haori thanx a bunch for telling me! Oh and to Ashley R: I had always planned on putting Sess in the story so don't worry about that! I hope you like sess/rin pairings cuz if you don't, well still read my story anyway! Oh and thanx for the idea xXxchocaholicxXx I definitely gonna use it! Plz keep sending in the reviews people

Chapter 5 (already?):

The first kidnapping and the tension seal:

That morning, Kyoto had been thinking, perfecting every detail of his plan. (wondering what it is?) He would somehow lure Inu Yasha into another fight, where he would capture Kagome and hopefully that lovely demon slayer. He smirked, vengeance was wonderful, especially when he thought of twisted and evil plans like this that played with people's emotions like small threads being intertwined. Once Kagome was in his grasp, he would play with Inu Yasha's emotions a little by keeping her and using her as bait to make Inu Yasha battle endlessly. And who better to battle then his own heart's desire? He chuckled, he had been learning a special manipulation spell so he would be able to control Kagome and make her battle against Inu Yasha. Inu Yasha wouldn't be able to fight against her because he would be too in love with her and love was his only weakness. He chuckled harder, once he had had his fun with Inu Yasha he would plant a tension seal on Kagome. Meaning that when Kagome became tense, the bomb would activate and slowly kill her by poisoning her! Inu Yasha would finally know the pain of losing a loved one! He would finally feel what Kyoto had felt long ago when Inu Yasha slaughtered his family. His mind suddenly fluttered to the lovely demon slayer the other's seemed to call Sango. He would capture her for his own benefit. His mind became so absorbed in thoughts of Sango, he began to blush, feeling his heart race with pleasure instead of anger for the first time since his family had been killed. He murmured a quick spell under his breath and instantly an orb filled with a bright light appeared before his eyes. Murmuring a few more words, the orb flashed and showed a scene where Sango and Miroku sat together alone. Sitting down he began to watch the couple, feeling a tinge of anger for no apparent reason.

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Miroku and Sango had been sitting in silence for quite some time, waiting patiently for the return of Inu Yasha and Kagome, each hoping that the other would say the first word. Damn it Miroku talk already! Sango thought.

"where are those two?" asked the monk at last, "I do wish they would hurry up and return to the feudal era! They could be getting married right now and we wouldn't be there to see!"

yes! Sango thought, glad that she wasn't the one who had to break the ice. But at the same time, she felt a little disappointed that even when they were alone, Miroku thought of Kagome and Inu Yasha's relationship and not their own. Blushing madly, Sango realized what she was thinking.

"is there something wrong Sango?" asked Miroku who had obviously seen Sango's now scarlet red face.

"n-no it's nothing" said the demon slayer, turning three shades darker as the monk suddenly slid closer to her.

Miroku could feel his face flaming up as well, just as Inu Yasha told him about Kagome endless times, only Sango could do this to him. Only Sango could make his heart race, his face flush, and all his lecherous ways disappear even if it was only for a moment on the last one. Not even the most beautiful woman in the world had the same effect on Miroku. When he thought about it, he didn't need to see the most beautiful woman in the world, to him, Sango was the most beautiful woman in the world. Sliding even closer to the youkai slayer, he gently slid his arm around her shoulder careful to control his hand from moving to her ass and not cause himself the pain of getting one of Sango's patented slaps. Noticing her blush, be blushed as well. Sango grabbed one of Miroku's hand and interlaced her fingers in his. He pulled her in close to him, wrapping his arms around her, getting caught up in the moment. Both didn't know why they had suddenly embraced on first impulse. It was an alien action to both of them (well...maybe not so much for Miroku but still...) why should Inu Yasha and Kagome have all the fun! They thought simultaneously as their lips drew closer and closer!

Kyoto, who had been watching this whole scene for quite some time, was furious! For some unexplainable reason, he was angry that the monk was about to kiss the demon slayer why do I feel this way? He thought, confused I've never felt this way before. It's like I'm angry but I don't see any reason why I should be. He pondered the feeling, getting more frustrated by the second wait a minute! He thought is this jealousy? Am I actually jealous of that monk? But why? Why would I be jealous? Oh no! it's because he's about to kiss that demon slayer! Don't tell me that pathetic hanyou has rubbed off on me! It can't be! No, I can't believe it I won't! curse you, you half-breed! Curse you for rubbing off on me! Curse you for making me fall in love! He grew even angrier! How could this be? How could he, possibly the most cold, unfeeling human being in the world be in love? With one of Inu Yasha's companions no less! This was impossible, it couldn't be happening, it couldn't! he looked at the spying orb once more, he would prove he was not in love and not jealous by watching the monk and the demon slayer kiss.

Sango and Miroku inched closer still, gradually closing their eyes. Their lips drew closer and closer until (hmmm wouldn't you mir/sang fans just hate me if someone interrupted them too? Fortunately, I'm in a romantic mood today) their lips made impact! A wave of warmth washed over the couple as they shared their first kiss together, happier than they had ever been before in their entire lives. For a moment, all thoughts of the others were erased. All they could think about was right here and right now. Letting themselves melt into the kiss, they embraced tighter never feeling more in love than at this very moment!

I despise you monk! Kyoto thought I despise you as well Inu Yasha! Curse you, curse you CURSE YOU! He clenched his fists I can't bear to watch this I must make it stop! He grew angrier and angrier clenching his fists tighter and tighter. He wanted to stop this moment! But he couldn't and that just made him angrier!

Sango and Miroku broke away from the kiss, blushing almost crimson red. They really didn't know what had come over them! They looked at each other at the same time, there eyes widening. Looking away, they blushed even redder. "look...I..." they said in unison.

"you first" said Sango.

"ok" agreed Miroku, "I know I've never been so up front with you before and I'm sorry if what happened offended you in any way but I realize now that I really can't go on without you and I've realized that now more than ever I love you and I need you!"

Sango blushed madly! This was the moment she had been waiting for ever since she met Miroku, maybe even before that! She was so excited she couldn't contain it! "I love you too!" she yelled without thinking and hugged him(....let's make it embarrassing for them shall we?) just as Inu Yasha and Kagome came in! Blushing darker and darker (they do that a lot eh? sweatdrops) Sango and Miroku looked at Inu Yasha and Kagome's smirking faces. "oh, y-your b-back" stammered Sango, still in Miroku's arms.

Kagome cleared her throat and pointed, giggling as Sango and Miroku realized what she meant and broke the hug and flushed darker still. Did they hear everything? Both thought, secretly hoping not (no rhyme intended). "s-so where were you two?" said Miroku slyly, changing the focus of the conversation. He smirked as the two blushed, remembering their own encounter with the love bug.

"ow!" said Inu Yasha suddenly rubbing his arm, "it felt like I got bitten." He rolled up his sleeve to find none other than Myoga. "what are you doing here?" Inu Yasha said, grabbing Myoga between his index finger and thumb.

"oh I've been here for a while lord Inu Yasha" said the flea demon slyly "you just never noticed me" He was immediately squished by Inu Yasha's clawed fingers. Looking up, he noticed one of Inu Yasha's embarrassed but angry (kinda constipated lol no offence Inu) looks had inhabited his face. "don't worry lord Inu Yasha," said Myoga "I won't tell anyone"

"about what?" said a curious Miroku.

"about nothing!" Inu Yasha yelled in an embarrassed but annoyed tone. He threw the flea outside and stomped out after him.

"why must they make it so easy for me to follow" Miroku said to the girls "eavesdropping on Inu Yasha is hardly a challenge anymore." He got up and went to follow them.

"oh Miroku must you?" said Kagome pleadingly.

"How else will I find out what's going on" he replied "it's not like Inu Yasha will come out and tell me."

"well....I don't know about that..." said Kagome unconvincingly.

"that's true and you know it Kagome," said Sango, coming to the monk's defence.

"don't worry Kagome I'm an expert at sneaking around and I'll stay a safe distance away" said Miroku, rubbing his arm "I'd rather not get acquainted with Inu Yasha's claws."

"I guess it's alright" said Kagome "just don't get caught"

"I won't" said Miroku, smirking "now watch out girls, when I sneak, I become....invisible" he did a weird karate like pose and ran out humming the mission impossible theme. (yes they know mission impossible! Kagome showed it to them....well....it could happen)

"o....k.....?" said Kagome after he had left, "that was gay"

"moving right along" Sango agreed, trying to cleanse her mind of the memory.

"so he confessed eh?" said Kagome staring Sango in the eyes.

"confessed what?" said Sango, trying to play dumb.

"oh come on" said Kagome, shooting Sango a sarcastic stare to tell her she didn't buy it. "you know exactly what! Don't play games with me Sango-chan"

Sango sighed, she couldn't lie to her best friend "should I bother pretending nothing happened or did you hear the whole thing?"

Kagome grinned "heard the whole thing" she said "now cough up the details."

"ok, ok" said Sango, sitting down to tell her friend everything.

Meanwhile, with Myoga, Inu Yasha, and the eavesdropping Miroku, Inu Yasha had led them to the Goshinboku tree. He laid a hand on the trees thick bark and thought for a moment this tree's been here for so long, it's still standing even in Kagome's messed up world. He paused, remembering the time he'd had with Kagome the previous night. He remembered the swings and the ropes....and how she'd sat him for no reason!!! He punched the tree, smirking, but not laughing. He never laughed, he had never really understood why. Maybe it was because he'd never had a reason to. Maybe it was because he never wanted to. But the most probable reason was that he had never known how. How could you learn to laugh? It had always seemed to be something that came with the ability of speech. But it had never come to him, as was the case with most things in his life. Things like happiness, hope and faith were still feelings he had never really felt. In fact the first time he had ever been optimistic and maybe even happy was when he had met Kagome. In fact, she had begun to melt the thick layers of ice that had covered his heart for his whole life. In truth, it scared him a little. No one had ever been able to do the things Kagome could do to him.

"Lord Inu Yasha?" said Myoga, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"look," said Inu Yasha angrily, "I don't know what you saw but breathe a word to a soul and I'll do more than just squish you and don't think I won't!"

"well, maybe I should tell someone since you already almost kill me evertime we come into contact" said the flea demon, smirking.

"just don't tell anyone okay Myoga?" said Inu Yasha impatiently yet almost pleadingly.

Is he actually asking me instead of telling me? Thought Myoga, somewhat surprised "Just like your father" he mumbled almost inaudibly. (Well...maybe inaudible to a human....) Squish Inu Yasha picked up Myoga and squeezed him between his fingers.

"and just what..." Inu Yasha started irritably "do you mean by that?" he finished though he already knew the answer and throwing Myoga to the ground.

"lord Inu Yasha if you love her it's nothing to be ashamed of" said a wheezing Myoga.

"damn right it isn't" he said as Myoga smiled knowingly "'cause I don't love her I mean" Inu Yasha said quickly, catching his mistake.

"don't lie to me lord Inu Yasha" said Myoga "for lying to me, is like lying to your own father."

Inu Yasha looked down, "well..." he started "maybe I do...a little but not more than that do you hear me you old pest!" he shouted, not wanting to sound more embarrassed than he felt.

Miroku smirked from afar I knew it he thought don't worry Inu Yasha, I won't tell anyone he mentally promised well...except for Sango....and Shippo...oh and Kaede....and probably Kagome....and Kikyo just for fun and.....oh just forget it. I will probably tell everyone. He mentally slapped himself for his stupidity but kept listening. Come on Inu Yasha he thought you can dish out more than that (he reeeeeeellllyyy has no social life does he?)

"is there anything else you wish to tell me lord Inu Yasha?" said Myoga as if in answer to Miroku's mental pleading.

"well...." Inu Yasha began.

But, before he could finish, some one stormed out of the bushes. It lunged for the shocked Inu Yasha. He picked up Myoga and jumped out of the attacker's way. "who are you?" he questioned the figure "If you're Kyoto come out right now!"

The figure came out of hiding, but it was not Kyoto, it was Koga! "oh it's you wolf-boy" said Inu Yasha, relaxing a little, as long as it was Koga he could deal with it, "come to take your 'mate' away with you again?" he teased.

But Koga did not answer. Something's wrong thought Inu Yasha, tensing up again he would have at least called me mutt face or dog shit by now. Inu Yasha looked closely at him, there was indeed something wrong with him. He seemed distant, as if not really in tune with his surroundings. He acted as though he couldn't control his movements and his eyes had an almost dead glaze to them. I've seen those eyes before Inu Yasha thought, recalling all the times he had seen the same thing happen to Kagome. wait a minute he thought that kind of thing only happened to Kagome when she was being controlled! Is Koga possessed? But he didn't have time to think about the answer because when he looked up, Koga was gone! "where'd that damn wolf go?" Inu Yasha wondered aloud. Suddenly, as if in answer, a loud blood-curdling scream was heard. That's Kagome's voice! Thought Inu Yasha is she hurt? He raced after the voice, going faster than he ever had before in his life. He soon came up to Kaede's hut and saw what had happened. The hut was in ruins! Inu Yasha ran over to Sango, who was holding her hiraikotsu and had changed into her armor. (how does she do it so fast?) "what's going on?" Inu Yasha asked her. But the horror stricken Sango could only point in reply. Inu Yasha looked in the direction she was pointing and saw the possessed Koga grasping Kagome, a stiff arm tight around her neck!

"K-k-k-oga?" Kagome finally choked out "w-what a-are y-you d-doing?"

"that's not Koga my dear" said a calm voice that seemed to come from the sky. The group looked up to see Kyoto sitting on what looked like a cloud.

"Kyoto!" shouted Inu Yasha "I should've known you'd be behind this!"

"look at his eyes Kagome" Kyoto continued, ignoring Inu Yasha's remark, "do you see the lifelessness? The pain? The utter inability to control himself?" he laughed as Kagome stared, hardly able to breathe. "well, get used to it!" said Kyoto in a sudden cold and heartless tone "because the same look is soon to inhabit your own eyes!"

"what?" said Inu Yasha disbelievingly to himself.

Kyoto motioned for Koga to come to him with Kagome. Koga obeyed without question (do you think he'd do that if he weren't possessed?) and instantaneously levitated to the cloud like flying device, still keeping his grip on Kagome's neck. Kyoto motioned again and Koga gave Kagome one last hard squeeze to the neck before she blacked out.

"Kagome!" Inu Yasha yelled, preparing to follow.

"triguna!" shouted Kyoto, pointing to Inu Yasha, who suddenly found himself unable to move.

"what the hell?" said Inu Yasha to himself, trying desperately to lift his legs from the ground.

"I have become quite good at magic no?" said Kyoto as he the possessed Koga and the fainted Kagome began to float away, "you'll find I can be quite a challenge to defeat." With that said, the three of them disappeared from sight.

Inu Yasha growled angrily at the unfairness of things. How could this be happening? It seemed that whenever he and Kagome had really gotten through to each other, something would always happen to split them up again. Though usually it was because of Naraku or Kikyo, not his ex-best friend! Nevertheless, this time would be different, he would find someway to make sure he got to her before anything bad happened to her, he'd make sure of it! Once again, he tried to move from his spot. This time he found himself able to move! He took advantage of the broken spell and sprinted off in search of the three. "Inu Yasha!" called a voice from behind him "WAIT!" He turned to look behind him to see who had called to him. Hoping that maybe it was Kagome he looked. But it was not Kagome, it was Sango who had called him. He kept going, he didn't want to go back just yet, not until he got to Kagome and saved her! He sprinted forward again, only to be stopped by a swift hit from a mysterious weapon. Everything went black and he fell, unconscious. Sango ran over to him, picking up the hiraikotsu that she had used to knock him out. She then dragged the unconscious Inu Yasha over to the others. They then dragged him back to the forest together. Laying him down by the goshinboku tree, they sat, waiting for him to awaken.

Meanwhile, Kyoto, the possessed Koga and Kagome had arrived at Kyoto's cave. Kyoto snapped his fingers and the possessed Koga roughly grabbed Kagome and carried her into the cave. Setting her down, the possessed Koga went to sit down himself, as if waiting for further instructions (shows you just how weak he is eh?). Kyoto walked over to Kagome with a large jug of cold water. He splashed it over her to wake her up. "mmm?" she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her neck where three large red scratch marks had appeared from Koga's grab. "ow" she said looking around "where am I?" she noticed Koga in the corner. "Koga!" she yelled, running over to the wolf youkai. She embraced him, expecting him to hug her back and tell her that he would get them out. But he didn't, Kagome looked up at him and saw that the cold, numb, lifeless glaze still covered his eyes.

"my but you are indeed incompetent" said a cold voice from the other side of the cave "haven't I told you that the wolf youkai before you is not the Koga you know? Don't you get it?!? I'm controlling him! And soon, I shall gain control of you as well!" He snapped his fingers and the possessed Koga's eyes glimmered back to life!

"Koga!" said Kagome, seeing that Kyoto had broken the spell.

"Ka...go...me.." Koga said as he smiled weakly the miko he had loved at first sight. But before he could say anything more, he fell back, unconscious (wow Inu and Koga...who's next).

"What do you want with me!" shouted Kagome "Why are you bent on controlling me? What good will it do?"

"because then Inu Yasha shall finally fall for the last time!" said Kyoto as Kagome stared at him quizzically "don't tell me you haven't noticed" he said to her.

"Noticed what exactly?" said Kagome, still quizzical.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Kyoto "Inu Yasha cares about you deeply"

Kagome flushed scarlet red "n-no he doesn't" she said as though she wished he did.

"Can't you see it in his eyes?" said Kyoto knowingly, "that goofy lovesick expression is all over his face whenever he's near you. How is that not love?"

Kagome looked down, Kyoto noticed a pure blue tear fall freely down her face "he can't love me" she explained "there isn't enough room for me in his heart."

"well it's too bad when I prove your wrong you won't be conscious" said Kyoto sighing, he hated it when he couldn't prove he was right and rub it in people's faces.

"what's that supposed to mean?" said Kagome suddenly looking angry.

Kyoto reached inside his robe and pulled out a small crystal in the shape of a 9 (if you've seen the first movie than yeah the same thing they used) He reached out towards Kagome's forehead and tried to place the crystal inside her. But somehow Kagome blocked it from getting to her. He tried again, catching Kagome off guard before she could resist. He plunged the crystal into her forehead. Almost immediately, it began to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter as Kagome's eyes began to slowly lose their liveliness. But it was slower than Kyoto had expected. Curse her! Her soul is more resistant than I expected. He reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a jewel shard. Gently, he placed it in her forehead as well. The light shone blindingly as all resistance in Kagome's eyes disappeared. When the light died down, Kyoto called upon his spying orb and made it show Inu Yasha. Putting it in front of Kagome's eyes he whispered "this is your enemy"

But Kagome shook her head resisting his command "no" she said monotonously.

"what?" said Kyoto, surprised that she could still resist his commands even under the influence of the shikon jewel. He tried again, getting the same response as before. He thought for moment. How could he convince Kagome not to resist? He

suddenly remembered part of their earlier conversation

Flashback

Kagome looked down, Kyoto noticed a pure blue tear fall freely down her face "he can't love me" she explained "there isn't enough room for me in his heart."

End of Flashback

He grinned evilly. He knew just what to do. It was perfect, he'd use the darkness in Kagome heart to turn her against Inu Yasha. He leaned down "but why not?" he whispered "after all, you said yourself that there was no room for you in his heart." And an angry and hateful look took over the possessed Kagome's face.

Inu Yasha slowly opened his eyes, taking in the light of the moon. Sitting up even more slowly, he turned to look at his surroundings. He looked up and saw the goshinboku tree hovering above him as if scolding him about something. But he couldn't remember what. Suddenly, a flash of bright light shone in his eyes and a vision of Kagome smiling appeared, then suddenly, her smile turned into an angry glare and her shining eyes turned cold and lifeless. She raised her bow and shot at Inu Yasha. Kyoto's cold and heartless laughter filled the air as the arrow flew towards Inu Yasha.

"aaaaaahhhhh" Inu Yasha screamed, waking up just before the bow had made impact. It was just...a dream Inu Yasha thought breathing heavily in shock but what does it mean?

"so you've awakened" said a male voice, causing Inu Yasha to jump.

Inu Yasha looked in the direction of the voice, half-expecting it to be Kyoto or Koga showing up to taunt him more. But it was neither Kyoto nor Koga, it was our favorite monk, Miroku. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" he said calmly. Inu Yasha sat up and started to reply but suddenly winced, rubbing the back of his head, he felt a small bump.

"did the hiraikotsu really hit you that hard?" said another voice, this time female, making Inu Yasha jump once again.

"Sango?" Inu Yasha said turning to look at the slayer who was now examining the bump on the back of his head.

"you okay Inu Yasha?" said yet another voice, young and eager.

Inu Yasha jumped yet again as he turned to look at the kitsune who had just spoken to him "would you all stop that?!?" he yelled. Suddenly he felt someone flick the bump on his head, wincing in pain, he turned, rubbing his head, to see who had flicked him. He almost expected in to be Kagome, about to scold him for being mean. But it was Kaede.

"this is no time for quarreling Inu Yasha" she said to him "ye must save Kagome, there's no telling what that evil Kyoto might do to her."

Kagome? thought Inu Yasha, suddenly remembering his dream. Should he tell the others? Would they tell him what the dream meant? Did it even mean anything? There was only one way to find out. "hey old hag!" he yelled to Kaede, if he was going to be nice enough to open up to them he could at least act like he didn't want to.

"what is it now?" said Kaede, annoyed at his constant habit of calling her 'old hag'

"do you know anything about...the meaning of dreams?" he asked her.

"a little" she replied, "why do ye ask?"

Inu Yasha explained his dream to Kaede. Explaining how he had seen Kagome's possessed and lifeless face and the cold laughter that filled the air as Kagome's arrow soared toward him. Kaede's expression took on a sudden surprise as Inu Yasha explained his dream. A solemn look soon inhabited her face "I am sorry to tell ye that it was no dream ye experienced."

"what?" said the others in unison.

"it's true" said Kaede "that was not a dream, but a premonition" she looked down regretting what she was about to say next, but she knew she must tell Inu Yasha, "it probably means that whatever you saw will come true very soon"

"NO!" said Inu Yasha, "Kyoto! That heartless jerk! He's going to make Kagome fight me while he watches from the safety of above! He knows I can't kill Kagome! I won't let him, I'll rip him limb from limb!" he got up and started to sprint away

"Inu Yasha wait!" Sango called to him "this is exactly what he wants you to do! You're just proving him right! You have to think of a plan first!"

Inu Yasha stopped, realizing she was right, but what can we do? He thought Kyoto's probably got Kagome doing his every wish by now! "I can't wait!" he called to his friends "I've got to save Kagome now!" With that, he sped away.

Kyoto watched with pleasure as Inu Yasha ran towards their hiding place. Though Inu Yasha didn't know it, Kyoto was magically guiding him to the place. This shall get very interesting, very soon he chuckled as he snapped his fingers. The possessed Kagome loomed out of the shadows and walked over to him. He motioned for her to sit. She obeyed, sitting beside him. He showed her the image of Inu Yasha "when he gets here" he began "destroy him" Kagome looked skeptical, still struggling to resist the spell. Unfortunately, Kyoto knew her weakness "he doesn't love you" he told her, "he can't, there's no room for you in his heart." Hearing this, Kagome could resist no longer and nodded, an angry look re-inhabiting her face. Kyoto smiled soon Inu Yasha he thought you shall die!

Inu Yasha ran faster and faster, still unsure of where to run. Suddenly a little voice called to him come this way Inu Yasha it whispered to him. "who's there!" yelled Inu Yasha. But he got no reply. Come this way the voice whispered again. "not until you tell me who you are!" Inu Yasha yelled to it. Don't you want to see Kagome? don't you want to make sure she's okay? The voice taunted him. "y-yes" Inu Yasha said slowly. Then you'll follow me. The voice said firmly. Inu Yasha reluctantly followed the voice. Don't worry Kagome he thought I'll save you! He let the voice guide him towards a cliff. Suddenly, the voices taunts stopped. Inu Yasha looked around, confused. He didn't see Kagome anywhere.

"So, you made it, you pathetic Hanyou" said a voice from above. Inu Yasha looked up to see Kyoto standing atop the cliff. Beside him, stood Kagome!

"Let Kagome go!" Inu Yasha yelled "it's me you have the problem with, not her!"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that" said Kyoto calmly, "the Kagome you know is dead now! Just like that pathetic wolf youkai"

"how dare you!" said Inu Yasha enraged.

"calm down Inu Yasha" said Kyoto, "You two shall be reunited soon enough."

"and what is that supposed to mean!" shouted Inu Yasha angrily.

"Isn't this tragic Inu Yasha?" he taunted heartlessly, "the very woman you love is about to destroy you!" He snapped his fingers with a sickening snap as Kagome jumped down from the cliff. Soaring through the air, she drew a bow made of pure energy. She landed, struggling to keep her self from raising the bow and shooting. Inu Yasha could see her eyes flicker back and forth, trying to regain consciousness. Kyoto noticed her struggling _Curse her and her resistant soul! Telling her Inu Yasha doesn't love her has become quite tedious! Especially when it's so obvious that it isn't true _"Destroy him Kagome! Kill him for not caring about you! If there isn't enough room in his heart for you, then why should there be room for anyone else!"

"what?" yelled Inu Yasha in surprise. What the hell was Kyoto talking about? Of course there was room for Kagome in his heart, there was hardly enough room for anyone else! He turned to look at Kagome, looking carefully to see how she would react. To his horror, the flickering of consciousness had stopped and Kagome had fully raised her bow! She shot, firing an arrow at Inu Yasha. "he's lying to you Kagome!" said Inu Yasha, dodging "I do care about you!"

"Liar!" Kagome yelled to Inu Yasha's surprise, she could speak? No, it was Kyoto's wish for her to speak.

Inu Yasha rushed over to Kagome, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her, "do you really think that if I didn't care" he yelled, tears streaming down his face, "I would be hear right now trying to save you?" The flickering eyes began once again, "I know you're stronger than this Kagome!" Inu Yasha said calmly, "I know you can fight the spell."

"He lies!" Kyoto shouted from above, determined not to lose, "he only wants you for the jewel shards!"

Hearing this Kagome struggled free of Inu Yasha's grasp. She stood back, raising her bow hesitantly. "don't listen to him!" Inu Yasha yelled to her, "you know about his lies don't believe him!" Kagome drew an arrow, preparing to let it fly. She hesitated as her arm began to shake, she struggled, trying with all her might to stop herself from shooting. "f-feel this fire....deep inside" she grunted out, still struggling.

"burning strong where you can't hide" Inu Yasha continued, surprised at his own singing voice.

"just...look at the...starry sky" Kagome sang, her eyes starting to lose their lifelessness "and...see the...light"

"when the darkness comes too strong" Inu Yasha sang back, walking towards her, his arms outstretched to catch her if she fell, "don't forget your not alone."

"Look at the stars and sing this song" sang Kagome weakly, letting her bow drop and walking towards Inu Yasha.

'I'll find you before long" sang Kagome and Inu Yasha simultaneously as Kagome broke the spell and collapsed into Inu Yasha's arms.

"it's okay Kagome" Inu Yasha said soothingly as he stroked her hair and held her tight "I'm here now."

"Doesn't that just make you want to......barf!" said Kyoto teasingly, "Get out of my site! But before you go..." he too jumped down from the cliff and swooped over them. He ripped Kagome's sleeve leaving a small mark: . He then disappeared from sight.

Back at the village, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kaede waited worriedly for Inu Yasha and hopefully Kagome's return. They were in a guest hut while Kaede's hut was being repaired. Suddenly, in answer to their prayers, Inu Yasha walked in, holding an unconscious Kagome in his arms.

"Kagome!" Shippo yelled, seeing the unconscious miko.

"what happened?" asked Sango, concerned for her friend.

"is she okay?" asked Miroku.

But Inu Yasha ignored his friends' questions and walked over to Kaede, setting Kagome down on the floor, he gently lifted her head so that it rested on his lap. He pointed to the on Kagome's arm. "what is this?" he asked her curiously.

Kaede examined the mark carefully, as if trying to remember where she had seen it before. Suddenly, it came to her. "it's an ancient curse! A tension seal!" she cried out in alarm!

"and what exactly is a tension seal old hag!" said Inu Yasha, trying to disguise his concern.

"it is an ancient curse in which it poisons the victom whenever they get tense!" explained Kaede, her voice full of concern "that means that the next time Kagome gets tense, the seal will poison her to death!"

Author's note: sooooooooo sorry I took so long to update but I lost my internet connection and I've been waiting to get to a computer with internet. Sorry about the cliffhanger ending but I got tired of writing this chappie and I want to get going with the next one (my friend's been bugging me to get to the chapter with Sess which is the next chapter aren't you Sess fans lucky?)


	6. The Encounter With Sesshomaru and the Th...

Author's note: so how did you like the last chapter? I know you've been waiting for me to finish it for a while but bear with me. If you want me to make long chapters than you'll have to wait for a bit before you can read them. Arigato for the long review Jamie! I guess that means you like my story! Oh and about the (blank) on Kagome's arm. I got this really cool Japanese symbol but I guess it didn't go through when I posted the chapter. Just say it was a mark. Don't forget to read my other story, as the petals fall. You may not be able to find it on the search engine but think you can now. And the song every heart will be used in this chapter but I obviously do not own it. But enough talk let's get on with the chapter.

Chapter 6:

The Encounter With Sesshomaru and The Thickening Plot.

"so what should we do?" Inu Yasha asked Kaede, discarding all thought of trying to disguise his emotions. All he cared about was saving Kagome.

"whatever ye do ye must not tell Kagome" said Kaede.

"but why?" asked Shippo, "shouldn't Kagome be able to know?"

"I agree with Kaede Shippo" said Miroku, "think about it, if you were told that you were going to die, wouldn't you get tense?"

"I…I guess" said the kitsune, not wanting to admit that Miroku was right.

"So if we tell Kagome and put that heavy weight on her shoulders," continued Sango, "She's sure to kill herself before we can save her"

"if we can" said Kaede solemnly.

"what do you mean Kaede?" asked Miroku.

Kaede looked down, "no matter what we do" she said "one of us will die."

"CURSE YOU INU YASHA!!!!!!!!!" Kyoto yelled, smashing anything he could find "I WAS SO CLOSE! HOW DARE THAT GIRL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM!!!!" Kyoto kept smashing things in rage. _I'll kill them both!_ He thought _I'll break their bond! And I'll crush their trust in each other!_ He walked outside and jumped down from the cliff. He walked through the forest, cursing as he went along. _How though? _He thought_ how can I…_but his thoughts were interrupted by the squeal of a young girl. He ducked behind a nearby bush so he wouldn't be seen. Peeking out from his hiding place, he saw a small toad (toad? I dunno what Jaken is lol) youkai and a little raven haired girl.(ever wonder why their all raven haired?) Beside them stood a tall Youkai in the form of a man. He had purple marks at the sides of his face, golden eyes and pure silver hair. (yay it's fluffy! Oh sorry) Kyoto growled at his unusual resemblance to Inu Yasha. It took all of his strength not to run out and attack the youkai. He watched as the youkai stopped abruptly and sniffed the air. The youkai growled slightly as he sniffed again.

"what is it lord Sesshomaru?" asked the toad demon as he saw his master sniff and growl.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" said the little girl, stopping as well upon seeing her master's action.

"I smell him" Sesshomaru said in his quiet dangerous voice, "I smell the blood of my pathetic hanyou brother"

_Hanyou brother? _Thought Kyoto as he watched.

"what does he mean master Jaken?" asked the little girl

"he means Inu Yasha, Rin" said Jaken smirking "Inu Yasha is near."

Sesshomaru smirked slightly as well "come Jaken, Rin." He said "we must take advantage of this opportunity to kill him"

_So _thought Kyoto_ if he too seeks to kill Inu Yasha, maybe he can be of help to me._

"wait!" yelled Kyoto as the three of them began to walk away. Sesshomaru stopped and turned, he smelled the blood of vengeance and malice. "if you want to destroy Inu Yasha, I can help you"

"what do you mean Kaede?" asked Miroku, "why will one of us die?"

"Many years ago, a sorcerer named Deikai made those tension seals for the soldiers fighting against us in the wars" said Kaede "But he was caught and forced to make an antidote. The antidote was called a healing idol. He started to use it on the soldiers that were affected by the tension seals. But when he touched their hands to give the healing idols to them, instead of healing them, it would transfer the poison in the soldier to him! So instead of calling it a healing idol, they changed the name to a _transfer _idol and told everyone to never touch one. The tension seals and transfer idols became so dangerous that the formula for them was locked away and kept secret by the Shinobi family."

"Shinobi?" said Inu Yasha suddenly, "I've heard that last name before! It's Kyoto's!"

"that explains where he got the formula for the tension seal" said Miroku.

"and that means that he has the formula for the transfer idols too" said Sango.

"but even if we make a transfer idol how can we use it?" asked Shippo "I mean who would be willing to give up their own life?"

Inu Yasha looked down at the ground, he could feel tears stinging in his eyes but fought to hold them back _me _he thought _I would. _

"a pathetic human thinks he can help me?" said Sesshomaru snickering "and just how?"

Kyoto looked at the youkai before him and smiled "I too seek to destroy Inu Yasha, I suggest we work together"

"who are you?" said Sesshomaru "before I make an agreement I must know"

"I am Kyoto Shinobi" said Kyoto "the one who's family your cursed hanyou sibling killed"

Sesshomaru tensed up as he heard this. For he indeed remembered when they had lived in this man's village. He remembered their cursed family and their hatred for Inu Yasha.

_A young youkai with silver hair and golden eyes ran through the village calling out someone's name. The youkai had long silver hair, bright golden eyes and purple marks at the sides of his face.(_dun dun dun! Its sesshy)_ "Inu Yasha!" the youkai called out. He stopped as he heard laughing and snickering coming from behind a nearby hut. The youkai hid behind a bush and listened carefully to what they were saying._

"_so, you in or out?" said a male voice that Sesshomaru guessed was a young boy. _

"_I still don't see what your trying to do" said another voice._

_The other boy groaned in annoyance "ok" he said "let's go over this again"_

_Sesshomaru peeked out to see Kyoto talking to another boy._

The memory then became unclear. Sesshomaru couldn't remember the rest. What had they been talking about? What was the secret plot Kyoto and the boy were concocting? He decided not to think about that now. All he knew was that this boy coveted Inu Yasha's death as well and he wasn't about to let the chance to kill Inu Yasha slip through his fingers. Slowly, Sesshomaru held out his hand "you have a deal" he said, smirking.

Kagome was still unconscious. She had been lying in the hut so long it had grown to be the night time and Inu Yasha was starting to get worried. He sat by her side, watching her as though testing her to see if she would even flinch on account of his stare. The others stood idly outside the hut watching the pair inside. None of them knew what they should do. It seemed wrong to tell Inu Yasha that things were ok because they were not and everyone knew it. The situation was very serious and telling Inu Yasha, who cared for Kagome more than anything, that she was ok would be cruel. But, on the other hand, her condition was fixable, but the only way to save her was for someone else to die.

"what should we do?" said Shippo to his friends nervously.

"none of us know Shippo" said Sango sadly, "we'll just have to wait until she wakes up before we can do anything."

Shippo looked solemnly at the ground "but what if she doesn't wake up"

"that won't happen!" yelled Inu Yasha, coming out from the hut, "Kagome will wake up and then we'll get that transfer idol and we'll save her"

"but" said Shippo "who would give up their life for Kagome?"

Inu Yasha bonked him on the head hard "I would!" he said "and if any of you really cared about her, you would too!" with this he went back into the hut to watch over Kagome.

The others processed what he had said and agreed. If they really cared about her they would. And they did care about her. She had always been a good friend to them, she had understood their problems and helped them get through it, she stayed by their side even when it would have been safer not to and she had trusted them and wanted their friendship even when she had been betrayed. Everyone agreed that she was the glue that kept the group together, without her, there would most likely be hatred and distrust spread throughout the group. But regardless of all this, they were still reluctant to give up their lives. **(a/n: ok, I know your thinking that they are really selfish right now, but come on, would you just go "sure I'll kill myself, no problem"?) **they were ashamed of their thoughts but they could not help it and felt unsure of what to do.

_Don't die Kagome_ thought Inu Yasha as he watched over the unconscious girl, her raven locks sprawled untidily around her head like a halo of black hair. He wished more than anything that she would open her eyes and speak to him, tell him she was ok, that the mark had never been real. Reality? The word had never registered in his mind properly. No matter what anyone said or did to help him, Inu Yasha was never familiar with reality, thinking that every good thing that happened to him was just a dream and that soon he would wake up to find himself alone in his own cold world feeling number and more shameful than before. And this time was no different. He sat by her side, silently praying that this was not reality, that the tension seal was just a dream, that the risk of losing what he thought was the most precious thing in his life was only an illusion. He wished, hoped and begged that it was not real but new deep down in his heart that no amount of praying or wishing would change the fact that Kagome's life was indeed threatened. What was even worse was that he could not tell her, he could not hold her and comfort her or, more likely, let her comfort him. He could not shed tears in front of her, could not confess his sadness and despair. Struggling hard to hold back the tears that stung his eyes, he tried his best to maintain an unreadable expression. He pounded the floor in frustration, cracking the brittle wood of which it was made. He would kill Kyoto for doing this to him! He would kill Kyoto for bringing back the numbing pain of his sadness.

Sesshomaru snickered as he saw Inu Yasha struggling with his human emotions. He felt pity for the poor worthless half-demon. After all, he would hate it if he was the one who had to deal with silly adolescent feelings like love and compassion for humans. He turned to Kyoto, "are you in or out?" he was saying. Upon hearing this, Sesshomaru was instantaneously greeted by a brief continuation of the memory.

_Young Sesshomaru watched as the boy and Kyoto went over their plan._

"_what if someone finds out about this?" Kyoto was saying to the other boy._

"_they won't" said the other boy firmly, "even if they do we can make sure they never tell…"_

But Sesshomaru couldn't remember what had happened next, regardless of his countless mental efforts. It was now clear to him the memory would return to him in small bits. He frowned, getting what he wanted had usually never been hard, but this time was different.

"well…?" said Kyoto, still waiting for an answer. (**a/n: I think I should end it here. But then you'd have to wait long for the next one, should I torture you, or not torture you? Yes? Or no? decisions, decisions. Ok I'll keep going) **

Sesshomaru smiled evilly, forgetting the memory for a moment and focusing on the deal he was being offered. "in"

Inu Yasha was still watching over the young miko in front of him. _Please wake up Kagome _he thought pleadingly _please._ As if in answer to his prayer, he noticed her slightly stir from her unconsciousness. He watched her intently, daring her to open her eyes. Kagome's eyes fluttered open and she sat up immediately. Panting, she looked at her surroundings. After one complete survey of the hut, Kagome's gaze finally met Inu Yasha's. "I-Inu Yasha" she said weakly before she fell back, the shock of waking up wearing off. Inu Yasha caught Kagome in his arms and checked to make sure she was still awake and ok.

"Kagome?" Inu Yasha said unsuredly, "are you ok?"

"yes" she said "but I feel so…tense"

"what!" said Inu Yasha concerned for her life, he hadn't known the curse would take effect so quickly. He thought of ways he could make her calm down and only one seemed appropriate. Oh Lord he was going to hate this but…. "Kagome, quickly, sit me!"

"what?" said Kagome "why"

"just trust me and do it" Inu Yasha replied. "and feel free to do it as many times as you want" he added as she started panting again.

"O….K….?" said Kagome who was a little weirded out that Inu Yasha would jump at the chance to be sat, "Um….sit?"

She watched as the hanyou was instantaneously pulled to the ground and couldn't help but giggle at the sight. She had always thought the look of him when he had been sat was hilarious. "Sit' she said, this time a little more sure of herself. She laughed out loud as Inu Yasha's face met the floor once more. "Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit," she continued in a sing song voice as Inu Yasha fell to the ground countless times. "I love that necklace!" said Kagome, laughing uncontrollably and pointing to the necklace around Inu Yasha's neck. She watched as he sat up and could only laugh more, her tension slipping away, at his now red face.

"ok, ok you had your fun" said Inu Yasha almost annoyed tone. He stood and pulled Kagome, who was still giggling slightly, to her feet as well. The two walked out of the hut to meet their still concerned friends.

"Kagome!" said Shippo happily at the sight of his friend, he ran to her and jumped into her arms.

"Hey Shippo" said Kagome "I'm guessing you missed me?"

Shippo laughed as he pressed his head into her shoulder. Sango and Miroku noticed her arrival as well and ran to her too. "Glad to see your ok Kag-chan" said Sango, relieved that her friend was not dead. Miroku nodded in agreement as the three of them walked over to the verandah of the hut.

"why are you guys so worried?" asked Kagome sincerely, "what happened to me?"

"you mean you don't remember?" said Inu Yasha.

"well, I remember some stuff" said Kagome, blushing at the thought "but then everything went blank. I couldn't really tell what was happening, but I knew I was doing something wrong. I tried to stop myself, but my body wouldn't listen. Usually I can fight manipulation curses, but this time something held me from resisting"

Inu Yasha stiffened, he knew what she meant. The thought that he didn't care about her, that he had no room for her in his heart, that he only loved Kikyo. He scowled and looked away, he would kill Kyoto for that, there was no way he would let Kyoto get away with filling Kagome's heart with such lies.

"But all the while I didn't know what it was I was doing wrong" Kagome continued "until I heard something, it was words, and a voice too. The words weren't recognizable at first, and neither was the voice. But then I realized it was Inu Yasha's voice, saying the words to our song" Kagome blushed at this point "it was then that I knew I was killing Inu Yasha! And no amount of magic could make me ever kill my friend, so I did my best to fight it and finally broke through, but then everything went black again."

She looked up at her friends who had circled around her. She realized all she had let out in what she had just said and blushed, she felt like an idiot, now everyone would know how she felt about Inu Yasha. Yes, it was true, she loved Inu Yasha very much and would never want to hurt him. But though she had said she didn't know what had kept her from resisting the spell, it was more clear to her than it ever would be to any of her friends. Her love for Inu Yasha was dangerous, and it would be threatening to his life as long as Kyoto knew her weakness, rejection. She was more scared that Inu Yasha did not return her feelings than she was of the countless demons she had battled many times before. And as long as Kyoto knew that, Inu Yasha would be in danger. Kagome grew worried, how long would it be before Kagome could no longer resist his spells at all? She knew that as Kyoto discovered the groups' weaknesses his magic grew stronger, for the strength of black magic increases by using other's pain and suffering. She looked at her friends again, who had now gone into their own small conversations, and stood. She walked away from the group as stealthily as she could, she needed some time to herself. Kagome noticed their conversations had grown quieter and immediately began to run lest she be seen. Kagome forced her legs to run until they could carry her no longer. She was still weak from the spell and had trouble controlling her body. Finally, unable to run any farther, she knelt down on the ground, panting and out of breath. She looked up to see the Goshinboku tree towering over her, she crawled slowly over to its trunk and leaned against it, grateful for a place to relax. She had been feeling so weird ever since she had woken up, like a heavy weight had been placed on her. Whenever she felt even the tiniest bit of concern, her heart stopped! She would feel herself losing consciousness when it happened too. She couldn't understand why or even what was happening. Hard as she tried she couldn't remember ever having this problem before. It certainly wasn't an illness from her time, that she knew for sure. But what was it? Should she ask her friends, or would that just make them more worried. She didn't know what to do, she was so confused. She felt tears sting in her eyes and didn't think twice to let them flow freely down her face. She felt so bad for Inu Yasha, he had to deal with the return of his old friend who now wants to kill him and he may die because of her and her feelings for him. She wept rather loudly and soon Inu Yasha's inu ears picked up her voice. He followed the sound until he too came to the Goshinboku tree. Landing on a branch, he made himself comfortable to spy on Kagome, who was crying below him. He watched as she looked up at the numerous stars above her. He listened carefully and heard the soft tinkling sound of her voice. He looked down and tried to hear what she was saying. He soon realized that she was not speaking, but singing.

**_Dare ni _**she sang **_omoi tsutaetara. Every heart. Kokoro mita sereru no darou. _**Inu Yasha suddenly felt himself losing focus of everything else but her singing. He had never known Kagome could sing so well.**_ Nagai nagai, yoru ni obieteita. Tooi hoshi ni inotteta. _**He watched her stand and look at the stars, with shining eyes she continued. **_Meguru meguru toki no naka de. Bokutachi wa ai o sagashiteiru. Tsuyoku, tsuyoku naitai kara. Kyou mo takaisora miageteiru. _**She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. Stretching her arms high above her head she grabbed the lowest branch of the tree and swung herself onto it. This was a new technique her brother had shown her. She chuckled to herself, it was the first time he had taught her something without making a fool of himself. Suddenly she heard the leaves of the branch above her rustle violently. She frowned curiously as she looked to find the origin of the noise. She saw a pair of golden eyes look straight back at her! Blushing madly she yelled "INU YASHA!!! SIT BOY!" He fell to the ground immediately. Kagome jumped off from the branch she had been sitting on and looked down at him "Just what did you think you were doing?" Kagome said irritably as Inu Yasha meekly looked up at her. Kagome sighed and walked away "you're no better than Miroku sometimes you know that?" said softly as she went.

Inu Yasha ran to catch up with her "what do you mean by that?" he said as he ran.

Kagome turned to look at him, "what is it with boys and eavesdropping?" she sighed.

"I wasn't eavesdropping!" yelled Inu Yasha in a defensive tone.

Kagome gave him a look that said _yeah right_ and continued walking away.

"I wasn't" said Inu Yasha again "I heard you crying and I came to make sure you were ok"

Kagome stopped dead in her tracks. Was he serious? She blushed a dark shade of red, hoping he was telling the truth. It was moments like this that made Kagome realize what a mystery Inu Yasha still was to her. Every time she was convinced he was a jerk, he totally surprised her by doing something nice. She turned to look at him, searching his eyes for a hint to see whether or not he was lying. "is that true?" asked Kagome, surprised that she had been brave enough to do so.

Inu Yasha gave her one last look before looking away, "feh" he muttered "only because if you died, I wouldn't have a jewel detector anymore"

That did it! Inu Yasha knew how much Kagome hated to be called a jewel detector. " Inu Yasha sit boy!!" she yelled "SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT BOY!" She watched angrily as Inu Yasha fell to the ground and had his face forced deeper into the ground on account of the added sits. With that she ran deeper into the forest. What happened to the kind Inu Yasha she had been noticing the past few days? The one that actually had a brain in that oversized head? The one that had opened up to her and let her cry in his arms?

Suddenly, she heard the rustling of trees above her, looking up she saw Inu Yasha right above her! "Don't follow me!" she yelled "I hate you!"

If she had taken an arrow and plunged it into his heart it wouldn't have hurt as much as what she had just said. Inu Yasha paused, landing on a tree branch, as he watched her run deeper into the woods. He realized that he had truly hurt her feelings. He should have known not to call her a jewel detector. But still, what she had said to him had definitely hurt him more. Was she telling him she didn't love him? Or even like him? He jumped off again, determined to find out.

Kagome leaned against a thick tree, panting as tears streamed down her face. He was a jerk! She hated him! No, that was a lie, she could never feel anything for him but love. But it wasn't returned, she knew that now. Just as she had suspected, he could only love Kikyo. She knelt down, crying harder than before. She knew she shouldn't love him, that their relationship was dangerous. But before she could think about the subject anymore, her heart skipped a beat. Finding it hard to breathe, she put a hand to her heart, which was now pounding faster and faster. She felt a piercing pain in her chest as her heart went on fire. Her fingers went numb, then the numbness slowly inched up her arms and through her body. Her eyes involuntarily blurred and began to close. She could feel herself fading as she laid down in the grass. Just before she blacked out once again she heard a muffled cry "Kagome!"

Author's note: finally done! Gomen about the wait but I had a total writer's block, but that's over now and I promise I will try to make faster updates.   
ai o fureta no mono wa jya nai, tada kanjou no mono ga desu na. 

Translation: Love is something we cannot touch, but it is something that can be felt.


	7. A Note From The Author

**Author's note: **No this isn't another chapter. I'm just letting you guys know that I probably won't be updating until around sometime in Feb. Gomene! Believe me I really don't want to, but I have to go for heart surgery on Mon. the 24th!!! Waaaaaaahhhhh! I have a rare heart condition and I'm getting cured! So in a sense this is a good thing. I'm really sorry for the wait but I'm going to try to get back on track as soon as I can. Wish me Luck!

-----xXxKaG-cHaNxXx

(Lissy)


	8. Unclear Memories and Painful Desicions

Author's note: I'm back with a new chappie! Yay! Don't worry Jamie no one will die… or will they? Hardly anybody reviewed my last chapter was there sumthin wrong with it?? Well just to get the reviews going I'm going to make faster updates depending on whether I get lots of reviews or not. And since I usually make the chapters end at cliffhangers, I'm guessing you would want faster ones eh? evil grin we'll just see. Oh and don't forget to check out my other story As The Petals Fall. Thanx to Inuyashakougalegolas and xXChocoholicXx for reading and reviewing both!

Chapter 7: Unclear Memories and Painful Decisions 

Inu Yasha ran to Kagome, who had just collapsed. "Kagome?" he yelled as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms "Kagome say something! Open your eyes!" He shook her, trying to wake her up or at least receive some hint as to whether or not she was alive.

Sesshomaru watched from Kyoto's spying orb, almost impressed at Kyoto's handy work. "So, you planted this seal on the wench?" he asked.

Kyoto smirked "hai" he said "quite good eh?"

Sesshomaru looked away "for a human" he muttered, not wanting to admit that he was impressed. He was about to say something else when he was once again presented with a continuation of the memory.

"_so which ones are you planning to kill?" said the young Kyoto._

"_all of them" said the other boy, "they all know too much"_

"_even ours?" said Kyoto worriedly._

"_of course not you baka" said the boy, "they're the only ones who are none the wiser, fortunately for them"_

"_but what about that weird family?" said Kyoto "the family of youkai. They'll be hard to kill"_

"_I know that!" yelled the boy irritably "that's why we're gonna use this…"_

Sesshomaru was snapped out of his thoughts by the voice of Kyoto. "did you hear me?" he was asking.

_Damn! _Thought Sesshomaru to himself, he was sure that part of the memory would have made things more clear to him. "What was it?" he said, realizing that he definitely had not heard what Kyoto had said.

"I said we'll capture that girl Inu Yasha seems to care for so deeply and sacrifice her to a demon!" Kyoto laughed "if that doesn't get her tense enough to die nothing will"

"Amateur" muttered Sesshomaru to himself as he watched Kyoto strut away from him with a triumphant grin "It won't work" he stated finally

"What?" said Kyoto confused "why not?"

"Inu Yasha has gotten through many harder times than this" said Sesshomaru "his heart has been broken many times before and he has merely walked it off. And most of these times were inflicted by much greater enemies than you." He turned to look at Kyoto, who now stood in the corner, subdued by this discouragement "And the girl, Kagome, is much stronger than you realize, more than once her miko powers have over powered my own powers" he continued "she also has much more hope than you expect and does not get tense easily. Inu Yasha would come to rescue her the moment he found out she was abducted anyway and the girl knows it"

The conversation was then interrupted by the charming laugh of Sesshomaru's companion Rin. Kyoto looked at her for a moment, than smirked. He had a new idea. "What if we could keep her hopes low?"

Sesshomaru turned to look questioningly at this proposal.

"Kagome!" Inu Yasha called, still desperately trying to revive the fallen miko. "Wake up!" he could feel the tears sting in his eyes and freely let them stream down his cheeks with no effort to hide them. Right then he had discarded all thoughts or efforts to hide his emotions. All he could think about was bringing Kagome back to life. He shook her, gently at first, then violently out of desperation. "Kagome!"

_is someone calling me? _Thought Kagome in her subconscious _why can't I recognize their voice._

_Because you were never meant to _said (or is it thought?) another voice, this one easily recognizable.

_Kikyo? _Thought Kagome _is that you?_

_You were never meant to hear Inu Yasha's voice_ she continued as though Kagome had made no remark at all _you were never meant to see him, and thus I shall see to it that you never see him again. _

Kagome was taken by surprise by this remark and suddenly found herself in the part of the forest she had always known, the place where the Goshinboku stood tall and proud. But this time, still bound to it, was Inu Yasha, just as he had been when Kagome had first set eyes on him. _What's going on? _Kagome said/thought _I don't understand, I freed Inu Yasha!_

_I've erased that from time_ said Kikyo _no one even remembers your name now! _

_Put everything back to normal! _Kagome yelled.

_You existing in his life is not normal! _Kikyo yelled as she walked beside the "dead" Inu Yasha _this is normal, Inu Yasha is supposed to be with me not you! You are just another version of me! And that's all you ever will be to Inu Yasha, to Sango, to Miroku, to Shippo, to everyone!_

_Shut up! _Kagome yelled _Shut up shut up shut up!_

Kagome shivered violently as she lay on Inu Yasha's lap "stop" she murmured "leave me alone"

Inu Yasha looked down at her wonderingly, what was happening to her? "Kagome?"

"no" she whispered painfully "you're wrong"

Inu Yasha watched her closely.

Kagome's Subconscious

_You're wrong! _Kagome yelled to Kikyo _I'm not you! I'm not! My name is Kagome not Kikyo so leave me alone!_

Kikyo looked almost taken a back. But before she could make a remark Kagome continued. _If anything you are just another version of me. _She said _you know I am more powerful than you. Remember all the times I've overpowered you? Even when you were brought back to life by using my soul I was able to call it back. You're just a vengeful spirit you shouldn't be able to walk this earth! _Kagome laughed _you're pathetic, hoping to get Inu Yasha to yourself by telling me I don't belong here when neither do you!_

As Kagome began to feel more confident of herself the Kikyo that stood before her began to gradually disappear. _Kikyo?_ She said bewildered.

_Be careful Kagome _Kikyo said in an almost kind tone _Inu Yasha may die again because of you. _

_What? _Kagome said as Kikyo disappeared completely _No wait! Don't leave me in such a state of confusion!_ But Kikyo could no longer hear her voice nor could Kagome hear Kikyo's. Kikyo was gone, for now anyway. Kagome stood wonderingly, remembering the whole encounter; she looked at her hands, which were now starting to disappear themselves! But her hands were not the only thing that was beginning to disappear; her whole body was beginning to fade away. _Huh? _Kagome said in frustration _what's happening? I'm…disappearing! _Slowly, Kagome's whole body had vanished.

Real World

Inu Yasha looked at Kagome, who was now beginning to open her eyes ever so slightly. "Kagome?" he said shaking her gently to speed up the process.

"Inu…Yasha?" said Kagome sitting up slowly "you remember me?"

"of course I remember you" said Inu Yasha, puzzled by her comment "I never forgot"

"Then…it wasn't real" Kagome said to herself "Kikyo never…made you forget"

"What?" said Inu Yasha dumbfounded.

"She came to me" Kagome continued "didn't you see her? She erased me from time, erased the fact that you were free, the fact that we had ever met"

"Are you feeling okay?" Inu Yasha said, not understanding what she was trying to say.

"She said I never belonged here" Kagome kept on "she said I was only another version of her, her replacement" She looked to Inu Yasha at this, tears brimming her eyes "Am I?"

"Are you what?" Inu Yasha asked, still confused.

"Her replacement" Kagome replied solemnly.

"Of course not!" Inu Yasha yelled "Haven't I told you over and over again that you're not?!?"

"But…" Kagome said slowly "you're the only one"

"Huh?" Inu Yasha said.

"No one else tells me that I'm not Kikyo" Kagome continued, tears now freely flowing down her dirt stained cheeks "they think it's so great that I'm her reincarnation but it's not!" She got up and started to run away again. But Inu Yasha was too fast for her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into a tight embrace. Kagome struggled to get free of his grasp at first but was soon won over by the comfort of his arms and sobbed into his chest. Inu Yasha felt her hot tears against him and held her tighter, fearing that this would be the last time they embraced all the while. His gaze fluttered to her sleeve which was still ripped from when Kyoto had cursed her and the ancient mark still shone brightly with demonic power. It seemed to seep deeper and deeper into her arm like deadly venom. Her body felt tight as she lay against him and he could tell she was still tense. He hugged her tighter, trying to calm her down. But he was even tenser than her if the truth be told. He knew that the time when she had fainted and would not wake was truly the curse's way of killing her. _The poison had made her see her worst fear_ he realized _me not remembering her and being with Kikyo. _He looked at her again. Her face was buried in his haori and his shoulder was covered with her raven hair.

"What exactly are you saying?" Sesshomaru asked monotonously.

"Your little girlfriend over there can keep her hopes low" Kyoto answered.

"And how exactly is she to do that?" Sesshomaru questioned further.

"By making Kagome believe Inu Yasha is not coming for her." Kyoto replied.

"I suppose it might work" Sesshomaru said, more to himself than to Kyoto "the girl would never suspect Rin to lie."

"Exactly, I've worked out the details" Kyoto continued eagerly "we'll get a strong demon to work for us by using one of the Shikon Jewel shards I got from the girl as payment, and then we'll get all of the girls in the area to be sacrificed…"

"Why only the girls?" Sesshomaru interrupted.

"So it won't seem odd that Kagome _and _Rin were captured" Kyoto explained "the demon will have to choose one of the girls to be sacrificed, here's the catch, he'll choose Kagome no matter what. If just that fact isn't enough to kill her, then we'll get Rin to make matters seem worse somehow. All in all it's a fool proof plan"

"I just hope it's Inu Yasha proof" Sesshomaru remarked.

"What do you mean?" Kyoto asked.

"All these plans were concocted well but you forgot one little detail" Sesshomaru explained, "even if we get Kagome to believe that Inu Yasha isn't coming for her, that doesn't change the fact that he will."

Even Kyoto was subdued by this statement, even if only a little "Well we'll just have to make sure she dies before then."

"Why do you loathe my hanyou brother so deeply" Sesshomaru said after a moment's silence "You were best friends at one point"

"Having your family killed by your best friend is not something that can be easily forgotten" Kyoto said, a malicious tone in his voice.

His last two words echoed in Sesshomaru's mind as he was shown another part of the memory yet again.

_The young Sesshomaru watched carefully as the two boys crawled into various different huts during the night. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked the young Kyoto "it doesn't seem right" _

"_Chicken" the other boy said to him as he climbed into the hut then held his hand to help Kyoto in as well "don't worry, once we have all of the five sacred objects we'll have limitless magical abilities and power."_

_Kyoto uneasily grabbed the other boy's hand and climbed into the hut. The two boys then disappeared into the hut. Sesshomaru wondered what they had meant by the five sacred objects and why they wanted limitless magical power. _

Sesshomaru was then brought back into the present time and out of the memory. It took him a few minutes to process all the information the memory had revealed. He now knew what he must do; he had to find out what the five sacred objects were and find out whether or not the boys had found them all that long time ago. But in the meantime he would need to keep Kyoto's trust and go along with his plans so he would not arouse any suspicion. "I suppose we could pull it off" Sesshomaru in monotone.

"Are you okay now Kagome?" Inu Yasha said not wanting to let go of Kagome.

"I'm just so scared" Kagome replied honestly, "Ever since we ran into Kyoto at the beach I've been afraid"

"You don't have to be frightened" Inu Yasha told her comfortingly "I'm the one he wants, not you"

Kagome snickered to herself _he doesn't know it _Kagome thought _but to get to him Kyoto needs me. _"Do you want to start heading back?" Inu Yasha asked, interrupting her thoughts "the others are probably worried about you"

Kagome nodded slowly and reluctantly let go of Inu Yasha. Stepping back, she took one last look at Inu Yasha golden eyes and immediately felt a little bit better. She realized why she loved him right then and there; he had always been kind even though he hid his true feelings behind his stone cold expressions. Whenever they had fought about something it was usually just Inu Yasha doing something abnormally nice then reverting back to his angry shell and saying something to cover up his good deed which would send her running home. "Let's go" she said, smiling slightly for the first time in the past few days and grabbing his hand.

Inu Yasha looked as she intertwined her fingers in his and blushed "uh...yeah." he said slowly, returning the smile.

Kagome continued smiling as they headed back to Kaede's hut. Though silence loomed in the air, she felt more calm then she had since the battle with Kyoto. But deep down she knew that things were not okay, Inu Yasha was still constantly being tracked by Kyoto and what made matters worse, Kyoto had one key to Inu Yasha's soul, her. As long as she was around, Kyoto would have a way of getting Inu Yasha to come to him. No matter how she looked at it, she was the main reason Kyoto had been able to find out so much about Inu Yasha and have so many battles with him. It was her who had been captured and transformed so that Kyoto could pretend to be her and get close to Inu Yasha. And it was also her that Kyoto controlled and made Inu Yasha fight against. If Kagome was taken again and made to fight, what would Inu Yasha do? What if next time, she wasn't able to control herself? She couldn't expect Inu Yasha to kill her! She needed to get away for a while, to think about what to do.

It was not long before Inu Yasha and Kagome had reached Kaede's hut once again. "What happened to you two?" Miroku asked as they walked in "we were worried."

"Sorry Miroku" Kagome apologized "we just needed to talk for a while, that's all."

"Kagome-chan!" Shippo cried as he came into the room and spotted her.

"Hello Shippo" Kagome said smiling a broad, happy, and convincingly fake smile.

"Kagome? When did you get back?" said Sango as she too walked in behind Shippo and went to sit beside her friend.

"Just now actually" Kagome said, still faking the smile. It must have been convincing enough though, for Sango did not question it.

The group of friends all went into their own conversations. Everyone that is, except for Inu Yasha, who sat in the corner in deep thought. "He sure has been quiet for a while" Sango whispered to Kagome "did something happen?"

"I don't think so" Kagome whispered in reply, "He was fine before."

_As long as Kagome has that tension seal on her arm, she's in terrible danger. The only way to save her is to use the transfer idols. But if we use a transfer idol, someone else will have to die. It's obvious that the others aren't willing to give up their lives and Kyoto knows that. He knows that only I would be willing to. If Kagome dies, I lose a loved one, just like he did. And if I use the transfer idol, I die. Either way, Kyoto gets his unnecessary revenge! _Inu Yasha clenched his fist tightly _either way, he wins and I lose! _He looked up at Kagome, who sat talking to Sango, her convincingly fake smile plastered on her face and felt his heart break _but I don't care anymore _he thought _I can't let Kagome die, I'll get the transfer idol, and I'll use it on Kagome. Then, I'll die, and I'll wait, Kagome, I'll wait for you on the other side._

The next morning, Kyoto and Sesshomaru gathered Kagome's shard and ventured off to see the demon of the village of Kai (**a/n: this just made me think of "we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz!)**. Many rumors had been spread about this demon saying that he was one of the most powerful, intimidating demons around. So, naturally, he was their first choice. They traveled far and wide, past the gumdrop trees and the cupcake mountains (a/n: **j/k j/k! did you actually think I'd make it have gumdrop trees and cupcake mountains? They're trying to find a demon for Christ's sake!)** Pretty soon they had reached the demons cave.

"Um…is this the…residence of the demon of Kai?" Kyoto called in.

"Who's asking?" called out a half low/half high voice roughly.

"The honorable Kyoto" Kyoto said proudly, puffing out his chest. But then he noticed the killing stare Sesshomaru was giving him "and the equally honorable, lord Sesshomaru" he added quickly, laughing nervously.

"What do you want oh honorable ones?" the demon called out from the cave sarcastically.

"We have a business proposition for you" Kyoto called out in reply.

There was a long pause after his statement "come in then" the demon said slowly after the silence. The two walked slowly into the dark cave, putting out their hands to feel their way around. **"**Oh shit! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting humans can't see in the dark" the demon said, flipping on the light switch. Suddenly, Sesshomaru and Kyoto were greeted by a bright light. When their eyes had adjusted, they saw that they were standing in a nicely decorated, very welcoming, very _pink_ cave. And standing in the middle of it all, was a tall, lean, silvery blue haired, green-eyed…

"YOU'RE A….A…SHOJO!" Kyoto shouted out in exasperation **( a/n: for those who don't know, Shojo means girl )**

"Couldn't you tell from my voice?" she said smiling as she flicked her hair over her shoulder "I'm the one and only reputed demon of Kai, Koru"

"But…you can't be…the demon of Kai is supposed to be terrifying and powerful" Kyoto protested "Not some, demon version of Barbie!" **(a/n: question, would they know about Barbie? Well, let's just pretend they do okay?) **

At this Koru seemed to get very annoyed "Omigod!" she said in a very chickish **(a/n: yes chickish! It's my word! Don't make fun of me, I'm creative) **way "I'm gonna so totally have a B.F."

"A B.F.?" Kyoto asked as he and Sesshomaru exchanged confused glances "what's that?"

"A Bitch Fit!" Koru shouted in annoyance, her green eyes glowing in anger "you'd better apologize now!"

**(a/n: yes, yes I know that's from white chicks, but wouldn't it be funny if something like that happened in Inu Yasha?)**

Kyoto smirked "feh…what are you going to do, slap me?"

This was the breaking point, in one bright flash of green; the entire cave blew up, leaving an almost burnt Kyoto and Sesshomaru standing in the middle of the still immaculate, pink cave. Koru stood proudly in front of them, laughing at their hair, which was blown straight up **(a/n: which would look pretty hilarious on Sesshy lmao!)** and at their ripped and burnt clothes. "Now that" she said "is the power of a good old fashioned bitch fit."

"Ok" Kyoto coughed "let's negotiate this shall we?"

Koru smiled and gently poked them both in the stomach, sending them flying straight down onto the pink, fuzzy **(squeals in delight FUZZY!!!) **couch. "Never underestimate the power of a shojo" she said smirking as she walked over to one of her cupboards. She grabbed a couple of herbs and brought them over to the boys. Sitting down, she handed the herbs to them "this should take care of your hair" she said.

Kyoto and Sesshomaru both rubbed the herbs into their hair until they were completely dissolved. Immediately, their hair fell back into place. Koru looked at Sesshomaru's silver hair and squealed in delight "your hair it's so…shiny!" she said, running over to him and playing with it "Have you ever tried braiding it? I swear it would totally bring out your eyes and those scars on your cheeks."

"Can we PLEASE" Kyoto interrupted "get back to business?"

Koru turned to look and Kyoto and blushed "sorry" she said sitting back down "now, about this business proposal?"

"Right" Kyoto said "we need you to do us a little favour…"

Then he and Sesshomaru proceeded to tell Koru the entire story and their plan "You'll be needing my brother then" Koru said after they were finished explaining.

"You have a brother?" Kyoto asked in relief.

"Yup" Koru said smiling "Koneru! Get your ass over here!"

Suddenly, A huge, 10 ft tall, demon that looked like an extremely tall teenage boy with silver blue hair and green eyes stepped through the door way. "What now Koru?" he said annoyed.

"These people have a business proposal for us" Koru said, gesturing for him to sit down.

"For your brother not you!" Kyoto interrupted.

"You want me to have another B.F.?" Koru threatened.

"Did I say your brother?" Kyoto said, laughing nervously "I meant your brother _and _you"

"That's better" Koru smiled "Now…what's in this for us?"

Kyoto smiled and nodded to Sesshomaru, who took out the vile with Kagome's jewel shards "Does this make it worth your while?"

Koru and Koneru stared at the vile and smiled "this will do nicely" Koneru said, reaching out to grab the vile.

"Not so fast, demon boy" Kyoto said, snatching the vile back "you'll get this, after you do what we ask"

"Deal" Koru said, holding out her hand.

Kyoto smiled, shaking her hand "Nice doing business with you" he smirked.

Later on, the gang had decided to pay a visit to the hot spring. Kagome had brought swimsuits for everyone so that they could all go in and not have to worry about perverts like Miroku looking where they weren't supposed to.

"Come on Kagome" Sango said smiling "let's go"

"Uh…that's okay" Kagome said returning the smile "you guys go on ahead, I…have some studying to do"

"But you didn't bring any books back with you" Miroku said.

Kagome shot him a look _thank you helpy helperton_ she thought "It's not that kind of studying" she lied quickly.

"What is it then?" Inu Yasha asked.

"Well…it's…English" Kagome lied "we have to think about a topic for an essay"

"Oh" Inu Yasha said.

"How long will that take?" Sango asked.

"Not too long" Kagome smiled "at least I don't think so. If I get done early, I'll meet up with you guys."

"Okay if you're sure" Shippo said happily as he bounced out the door. The others slowly followed after him.

Kagome shot them a fake smile and waved. As soon as they had left, Kagome sat and got down to some serious thinking _Kyoto's one link to Inu Yasha, is me. _She thought _if he gets a hold of me again, he'll have a greater chance of killing Inu Yasha. _Kagome thought more about how she could stop that from happening and could only think of one solution. But it was one of the most painful, heart breaking option she had _but it's the only one I have _she thought _the only to destroy Kyoto's chances of getting to Inu Yasha through me, is to make sure I'm out of the way. I've got no other choice; I've got to kill myself. I have to erase myself from the planet. There's no other way, even if I tried to run away, Kyoto would find me. _Kagome felt hot tears stinging in her eyes let them flow freely without hesitation. She was allowed to cry this time, this was the last time she would ever be able to feel sadness, pain, love, hurt, happiness, joy, or any other emotion. Tonight was her last night on earth. She prayed Kami would be merciful as she grabbed an arrow from Kaede's quiver. But before she did anything with the arrow, she grabbed a paper and a pen from her backpack **(a/n: of course the giant backpack that's bigger than her would have a paper and a pen. Why not? It's got enough room for a pan, a timer, cup noodles, etc.). **She wrote away, writing down everything, her last wishes, what she was leaving everyone, how and why she had died. Then, she paused, thinking about whether or not to write something deeply personal _why not_ she thought _it's not like I'm ever going to see them again. _So, she wrote it. When she was done, she folded up the paper and placed it in the middle of the room. Then, she picked up the arrow and held it against her chest. This was it; this was her last minute on earth. _I'll miss you mom, sota, even grandpa. Bye Shippo, Sango, Miroku, you were like a second family to me. Good bye Inu Yasha, I will probably miss you the most of all! You were my best friend, maybe even more! _Then, with one last tear, she brought the arrow down!

**Author's note: **Muahahahaha! Yet another cliffhanger! grins evilly Wanna see what happens? Will Kagome really plunge the arrow into her heart and kill herself? Will the rest of her friends find the will? And what was that personal thing Kagome wrote down? It's all to come in the next chapter! And a little hint to everyone, the more reviews you send, the faster I write! I want at least 40 or even 30 when this story is done. So if you grant my wish, I'll grant yours! Oh and before I forget, does anyone want to join the new club I'm starting? It's called the I HATE KIKYO Kikyo haters club. A club in which all inu/kag fans can express their feelings of hatred toward that stupid living dead bitch! (srry I jus reeeeeeeellly hate her!) Answer in your reviews and I'll let you in on the details.


	9. Kyoto's Dark Secret

**Author's Note: I know I haven't updated in like forever, but that was because I had a major case of writer's block for this story, but now I've come up with a brilliant idea! So please review!**

Chapter 9: Kyoto's Dark Secret

"I have to do it!" Kagome thought, tears streaming down her face "I've got to!"

Her eyes softened as her grip on the arrow loosened. "I'm so scared" she said, feeling herself grow weaker. The tension bomb was beginning to work its magic on her. She started breathing in a shallower manner as she struggled to keep herself from faltering "I don't want to leave him! I can't bear the thought of never being able to see him again! But, if I stay, it will only cause his death!"

"You are truly my reincarnation" a voice called from behind her. It was only too familiar to Kagome as she whirled around.

"Kikyo!" she said in alarm, eyeing the priestess through narrow eyes "how did you get in here?"

Kikyo did not respond, but merely looked past Kagome to the arrow, which she had dropped, lying on the floor behind her. "You are planning to sacrifice yourself for his sake aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes!" Kagome answered, hoping she at least sounded more confident than she felt, a hundred times more confident!

Kikyo merely smirked "you are willing to do it even knowing that in doing so, you are surrendering Inu Yasha to me?"

"Wrong!" Kagome shouted, standing "It just means that I'll be doing the same thing you did for him, you and I will finally have an equal chance."

"We would" Kikyo agreed smugly "if only I hadn't killed Urasue upon my rebirth, destroying any chance of her rebirthing any more priestesses."

Kagome's eyes widened, Kikyo was right, there was no more chances for her. After this, she would be gone forever! But even as she stood there, looking at Kikyo's smug smile, she couldn't help but wonder if this Kikyo was just another illusion made by her fears. After all, a similar occurrence had happened not too long ago, from which she had been saved by Inu Yasha. "I…I don't care!" she said, even though it pained her to do so "You can have him if you wish" a sharp pain stung her heart "just as long as he remains safe from Kyoto."

Kikyo merely began to laugh triumphantly "finally you give up the pointless battle!" she said proudly

"Leave me alone!" Kagome continued to shout "this time, I'm not listening to you! This time, I know you're not real!"

Kagome stared up at Kikyo, picking up the arrow she had previously dropped on the floor "this time…" she said, angrier than before "I'll listen to what my own heart tells me and not yours!"

She lifted the arrow; ready to plunge it into her heart "I'm not you!" she yelled "I never have been! You disgust me! To be you would be and insult!"

With that, she brought it down, feeling the pain of it searing her skin. She winced, falling to a kneel on the ground as she forced it farther into her body. _What's this? _she thought _why aren't I dead yet? I should have been dead minutes ago!_

But no matter how much she forced the arrow inside of her, her life force would not give out.

"I gotta admit, I had my doubts" said a female voice from above "but that Kyoto guy seems to know what he's doing."

Kagome looked up, the voice was not Kikyo's. In fact, she had disappeared, proving to Kagome that she really was an illusion. Instead this voice belonged to a blue haired, pale demon girl.

"H-how do you know Kyoto?" she said, grabbing at the arrow in her chest and sweating from the pain.

"I'm working for him as of late" the girl replied nonchalantly "he's a real nutcase, him and some other demon that wears a fluffy thing around his kimono came to me and my brother koru a while ago."

"Huh?" Kagome said, breathing heavily.

"Oh I'm sorry" the girl said, snapping her fingers "that arrow must hurt huh? I'll get rid of it."

Upon the snapping of her fingers, Kagome's arrow dissolved into thin air before her very eyes. "No!" she said, grasping for it as it faded away "that's not fair! I wanted to die!"

She looked up at the girl again, tears in her eyes "Why did you have to interfere?" she screamed angrily!

"Can't have you dead" the girl replied swooping down to Kagome's level "I got strict orders to bring you back alive."

"Idiot!" Kagome continued to shout "I'm not going anywhere with you or Kyoto! Forget it!"

"Wow you're rude" the girl said "usually, you're supposed to ask someone's name, not call them one."

Kagome was seething "Give me back my arrow right now!" she yelled.

"That arrow was just an illusion stupid, don't you get it?" the demon said with an incredulous tone "just like the Kikyo you saw. It was all part of the tension seal"

"T-tension seal?" Kagome asked.

"What's this? I think I've piqued you're interest" the girl smirked "unfortunately, I'm not supposed to tell you, that's Kyoto's job."

Kagome scowled "that is" the girl continued "if you'll come with me to him."

Kagome fumed, she hated irony, especially this kind "If I can find out what he's planning, I'll go with you!"

"You got it honey" the girl smiled, pulling the miko to her feet "the name's Kaoru by the way" she said as she snapped the fingers of the hand which wasn't holding Kagome's arm.

Kagome said nothing as the sensation following the snapping of the girl's fingers engulfed her. She felt as though a metal bar was pressing up against her, squeezing her until she found it very difficult to breathe. Panting, the sensation continued until suddenly, it stopped abruptly. Kagome found herself lying on the floor, breathing heavily. But at least the sensation was gone. In fact, it was as though it had never even occurred.

"Yeah the sensation kind of takes some getting used to" Kaoru told her "but at least you made it through, I was kind of worried."

Kagome refused to speak as she sat on the ground, eyeing her surroundings. She appeared to be in a big cave, its golden walls shone blindingly. So much so that Kagome had to squint to see. And in the middle of it all, was a tall tower-like throne. Sitting in it, was none other than Kyoto himself.

"Pretty nice work Kagome" Kyoto smirked "I didn't know you had such an imagination."

"What do you mean?" Kagome said angrily, not wanting to say more to the villain than she had to.

"Well, I put an enchantment on this cave" Kyoto said "it becomes whatever a person thinks of a certain hanyou we both know."

"What?" Kagome said, still confused.

"For example, since Kaoru does not know about Inu Yasha" Kyoto continued "the cave would be empty to her eyes."

Kagome merely scowled "but to yours, he is a high and mighty prince worthy of all the gold in the world."

"Then how can you see it?" Kagome said "your version of this cave must be different than my own!"

"Because Kagome" Kyoto said "I am in your mind"

Kagome clutched her head in disbelief "But I got out of your mind control! I know I did!" she said.

"You merely are able to keep me from controlling your heart and your body" Kyoto explained "but you haven't been able to get me out of your mind."

"Despicable…rotten…!" Kagome tried to think of an insult befitting of a fink of his level, but none came to mind.

"And do you know why?" Kyoto said in amusement at the girl's frustration "because you can't stop thinking about how I can harm Inu Yasha."

"What?" Kagome said.

"Ironic isn't it" Kyoto said with a smug smile "while you thought you were helping him all this time by deciding to kill yourself, you were actually leading me to you! The more you think of me as a threat, the more you open your mind to me, the more I can seep into your thoughts. It won't be long before I can once again gain control your heart, but that is all in good time."

Kagome frowned "You!" was all she could say to the man.

Kyoto merely chuckled "when you were doing all that thinking about killing yourself, I knew it was the time to strike. I couldn't let you die, I have to many plans for you."

"Why would you want me?" Kagome said fuming.

"Because you have power Kagome" Kyoto said "more power than anyone I have ever known."

"Power?" Kagome said "I'm not using miko power if that's what you want!"

"Not that kind of power Kagome" Kyoto said, still smiling.

"Then what power!" Kagome yelled up to him in frustration "I have no other strength!"

"Not all power can be seen Kagome" Kyoto said "the power that is felt by the heart can be much more immense than anyone might realize, that, Kagome, is the power I desire."

"What?" Kagome said confusedly.

"I thought that I was able to manipulate your power by controlling you" he said "but it seems you are too strong for even me. No, the only way to gain power of your stature is to have your heart."

"Right!" Kagome said sarcastically "like I would give my life to you."

"You already have Kagome" Kyoto laughed loudly "You already have!"

"What?" Kagome said.

"Lift up your sleeve on your left arm" Kyoto instructed.

Kagome did as she was told, but all she saw on her arm was a tiny Japanese symbol "What is this?" she said, she had never seen it before.

"That, is a tension seal" Kyoto said "ever wondered why you kept seeing visions of Kikyo?"

"This thing created them?" Kagome said.

"No, that was your doing" Kyoto said "the tension seal merely helped you to realize your true fears and showed them to you by using the strength in your heart."

"I don't get it" Kagome said "how is this giving you my life?"

"Because Kagome, how long do you think a human can take seeing their worst fears become reality?" Kyoto asked her.

Kagome's eyes widened as he continued "each time you see them, a bit of your soul fades away, the more elaborate the illusion, the more of your soul is taken. You Kagome are almost dead as we speak!"

"NO!" Kagome said "I don't want to die!"

"But, I thought you did" Kyoto said with a chuckle "why the change of heart?"

"I won't surrender my heart to you!" Kagome said "whatever power it is I possess I won't let you have it."

"Not even for the sake of Inu Yasha?" Kyoto asked her.

"What?" Kagome said.

"I can help you Kagome" Kyoto said "I can make it so you won't have to die. But it comes at a price."

"What is it?" Kagome said.

Kyoto chuckled as a bright light surrounded his body.

**Author's note: there's your chappie! Have fun! See you next update! Peace!**


	10. Three Days to Say I love You

**Author's Note: You liking the update so far? The sacrifice idea kind of changed a bit. Instead of sacrificing her to a demon, she'll be sacrificed to Kyoto. irony, irony, irony!**

Chapter 10: Three Days to Say I Love You

Kagome lifted her hands to shield her eyes as the light continued to shine around Kyoto's body. When it had stopped, Kagome's eyes widened. Kyoto had become paler, his eyes colder and beady. He was also considerably more handsome. "What are you?" was all Kagome could say as he came down to her.

"A Hannya Kagome" Kyoto answered "I look a lot better this way no? You think your demon slayer friend would think so?"

"What the hell is a Hannya?" Kagome said, growing more confused as these events occurred "And why the hell are you interested in what Sango thinks?"

"A Hannya is a very powerful demon Kagome" Kyoto answered as though explaining tedious things to a two year old "A jealous creature with the ability to cause people to die, or cause them to live."

"What exactly to I have to do to live?" Kagome said, remembering how he had said her life would come at a price.

"First thing's first" Kyoto said "Inu Yasha, do you love him?"

Kagome blushed darkly "What does he have to with this?"

Kyoto almost seemed angry at her words. His eyes flashed annoyance but he remained calm "he has everything to do with it Kagome, everything!"

Kagome said "I don't get it? What does it matter how I feel about him?" still blushing.

Kyoto smiled "it's okay if you can't say it aloud, I can merely search your mind for it."

"What?" Kagome said in alarm as he pulled her closer, staring her hard in the eyes.

Kagome's mind immediately went hazy _close your mind, close your mind!_ She shouted inwardly, unable to avert her gaze from Kyoto's eyes. She had strong walls in her mind, almost impenetrable walls. So she was not very scared "do your worst" she said.

At least, she had wanted to say that, and she had opened her mouth to say it. She would have said it too, if sound had come out of her mouth at all. The walls in her mind were slowly fading away and she could do nothing to stop them. She felt limp and closed her eyes, memories of all the times Inu Yasha had done nice things for her, hugged her, and complimented her. Kagome blushed _even kissed me_ she thought, remembering the encounter at Kaguya's castle. _I do love him _she found herself thinking involuntarily _with all my heart. _

And just like that, she found herself back in the cave, Kyoto smiling above her. Pushing herself away from him "You made me think that!" she yelled "that's not fair!"

"But it was information locked deep within your mind" Kyoto said "it was information I needed."

Kagome continued to scowl "I can help you now" Kyoto told her.

"Then let me live!" Kagome yelled at him "take this stupid tension seal off of me."

"Oh but I can't do that" Kyoto said "That's up to you."

"Then what do I have to do!" Kagome said.

"Your mind reveals to me that you love Inu Yasha" Kyoto said "now you must get him to tell you he loves you!"

"What?" Kagome said.

"If you can get Inu Yasha to tell you he loves you within three days time, I will let you live" Kyoto said "but if not, your heart belongs to me!"

"You've turned my life into a bet!" Kagome said "You despicable monster!"

"I see you do not wish to live" Kyoto said "I can just as easily take your heart now Kagome, you should be happy that I am giving you this chance at life."

Kagome growled "Fine! I'll accept your challenge."

"Good, now for the rules" Kyoto said.

"Rules?" Kagome frowned.

"Of course, can't make it to easy" He said with a smile "I do want your heart you know."

"Fine, what are they" Kagome said in a tone that made it clear that she despised this whole thing.

"First, you can't tell him you love him" Kyoto said "you automatically lose if you do."

"What? But that's not fair!" Kagome yelled "how will he ever say it if I can't tell him how I feel too!"

"Hey, I need some kind of advantage here" Kyoto protested "and besides, if you say it first, it will make him feel obligated to say it too. Makes it much too easy!"

Kagome snarled "You…" she said, feeling her anger rise.

"Secondly, he has to say it of his own will" he shook a finger at her "no magic or drugs or anything like that Kagome!"

"Fine" Kagome said "three days, I'll get him to say it for sure!"

She then stuck out her hand for him to shake. He looked at it blankly "what am I supposed to do with that?" he asked her.

"It's a handshake" Kagome explained "where I come from, it can symbolize a simple greeting, or represent an unbreakable promise."

He smiled and shook her hand "then I will gladly make this promise unbreakable" he said as they let go.

"Send me back now" Kagome said.

"Very well, but remember Kagome" Kyoto said "when I return in three days to search your mind, if no memories of his confession can be found, your heart, and your power, belong to me!"

Kagome nodded as Kyoto snapped his fingers to send her home.

**Author's note: I know this chapter was very short, but I am tired and I need to work on my other stories as well. So please review!**


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